How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm? Dojo Daytrip by Chris Tougas

WITH MASTER LEADING, ARM IN ARM,

NINJAS LEAVE THE BUS TO TOUR THE FARM.

The six little black-hooded ninjas are up for a fun field trip to the farm.  Master is into the spirit of the day, too--all decked out in his straw hat and cowboy boots and ready to show off his agricultural acumen for his little students.

But best laid plans of mice and master go astray!

YIKES! YEE-0W!

With the ninjas perched on the pigpen fence, Master strides manfully with a bucket of swill toward the sow, slips on a banana peel, and lands, slop and all, in the trough.

The little students find it amazing and work off their excitement by letting the chicks loose and breaking a few boards in the fence with karate kicks! Then, leaving Master to struggle out of the slop, they scamper off to climb ropes and hide among the hay bales in the barn.

Master tries to carry on with his lesson in milking the cow. But the bull seems to be a bit possessive about Daisy!

YIKES! YEE-0W!
MASTER FLEES THE RED BARN, RACING
FROM A BULL THAT'S CHARGING, CHASING
NINJAS CHASE EACH OTHER, TOO,
MAKING HORNS AND YELLING, MOO!

Master goes up a tree, at bay, until at last the bull goes away. Courageously, he climbs down and presses on with his lesson plan--hitching the horse up to pull the plow!

But the plowhorse spooks and drags Master, still hanging onto the plow, through the sod. The little ninjas are enthralled with the excitement of the moment. But, wait.

What would a good ninja do?

THE NINJAS ALL FORGOT THEIR CREED: ALWAYS HELP SOME ONE IN NEED!

The six ninja kids go into action. They jump onto the runaway horse and make him whoa. They rescue Master and help him recover. And then they leap into action, repairing the fences, refilling the trough, milking the cow, and giving the plot a good plowing. They even repaint the barn. The barnyard is restored to perfect order.

THE LITTLE NINJAS GIVE A BOW.

MASTER BOWS AND WHISPERS... WOW!

All's well as Master and students board their van and head back to the daycare center. But... what's that critter with the big horns doing in the back of the dojo bus?

It's Yikes! Yee-Ow! all over again as the dojo bus bounces back down the road, in Chris Tougas' Dojo Daytrip (Owlkids Books, 2015). Field trip stories usually involve some sort of hi-jinks among the day trippers, and it seems little ninjas are no different. Tougas' digitally generated cartoon ninjas go right along with the slapstick script, with liberated chicks everywhere, pratfalls in the pigpen, and considerable hazard to the seat of Master's pants in the plot. But this tale is saved from total silliness by the repetition of the dojo creed: Always help someone in need, and kids will soon take up the refrain... Yikes! Yee-Ow!

Pair this one with its predecessor, Dojo Daycare or N. D. Wilson's Ninja Boy Goes to School (review here).

And to All a Good Ninja: Samurai Santa: A Very Ninja Christmas by Rubin Pingk

CHRISTMAS EVE WAS THE MOST PERFECT SNOW DAY OF THE YEAR.

YUKIO HAD NEVER SEEN SUCH BIG SNOWFLAKES. THEY SEEMED MAGIC.

Little Yukio has but one thought! Get the others outside and have an EPIC snowball fight! But the other little martial arts students are timid.

"NO! SANTA CLAUS WANTS US TO BE GOOD LITTLE NINJAS!

WE DON'T WANT TO BE ON SANTA'S NAUGHTY LIST!"

What a regrettable group of greasy grinds! Yukio thinks. His classmates keep right on practicing their skills, while the best snow of the year goes to waste!

But Yukio also blames Santa Claus. So, that night when Santa squeezes and slithers down the chimney, Yukio's on an all-nighter ninja Santa stakeout.

YUKIO CREPT TO THE LOUDEST GONG AROUND...

CRASH!

"INTRUDER!!!" YUKIO YELLED.

Dutifully, all the good little ninjas jump awake and throw themselves into the fray, using the first weapons available--snowballs!

"BANZAI!"

It's the most EPIC snowball fight ever, as Santa finds a stealthy way to train his troops and gives Yukio his best Christmas present ever, in Rubin Pingk's ninja night before Christmas story, Samurai Santa: A Very Ninja Christmas (Simon and Schuster, 2015). Author-illustrator Pingk's inventive digital illustrations provide the pages with plenty of movement and style and all the good little ninjas at his dojo get plenty of presents. Yokio gets a special letter from Santa:

Dear Yukio,
I hope you enjoyed the EPIC snowball fight. I made it just for you!
Sincerely,
Samurai Santa

Says Publishers Weekly in their starred review, "... a frenzied, fun, and nontraditional Christmas tale. It’s an impressively disciplined debut for Pingk and, just as important, a blast to read."

Back to School: Ninja Boy Goes to School by N. D. Wilson

IT'S HARD BEING A NINJA.
YOU MUST RISE  BEFORE THE SUN.

It's hard starting Kindergarten, too. It, too, requires rising early, being silent and sometimes remaining perfectly still.

A boy needs to get his "NINJA STUF" box down from the high shelf and get geared up to face the day--all in black, with knapsack, mask, and blue headband in place and his stoic ninja face on.

The first challenge is the school bus.

NINJAS MUST BE ONE WITH THEIR SURROUNDINGS.

The ninja clings to the ceiling of the bus like a fly.

Inside the schoolroom he feels trapped and wants to run away, but his ninja training comes in handy.

A NINJA MUST BE PATIENT LIKE A DEEP-ROOTED TREE.

The ninja stays in his seat and waits for his moment. But a true ninja cannot be contained, and when the teacher is not looking, he leaps like a gazelle out the window.

But what does a little ninja do next?

The ninja may not know, but the principal does, and soon Ninja Boy is on the carpet and calling upon all his skills at remaining silent while his parents are called. OOPS.

There are times in life when it's better to keep your inner ninja undercover, as our boy learns in N. D. Wilson's just published Ninja Boy Goes to School (Random House, 2014).  Kids will giggle as Ninja Boy tries out his moves on the first day of school, with somewhat mixed results. Normally, ninjas are not necessarily nice guys, and Wilson's little main character finds out that there's a time and place for everything, with the help of J. J. Harrison's bright comic book-style illustrations. Pair this one with Aree Chung's new top-seller, Ninja! (Henry Holt and Company, 2014) for a duo of nimble ninja stories.

Arachnophobes Anonymous: I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton

I KEEP TELLING MYSELF

"SPIDERS ARE COOL!"

I WANT TO LOVE SPIDERS.

I THINK IT'S WORKING...

AHHHHHHH!!
IT'S MOVING!!

SQUISH IT!!

SPLAT! Well, that's that.

THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT.

Our little arachnophobe is trying to appreciate the coolness of spiders--eight eyes, eight legs, spinning spider silk webs as strong as steel--funnel webs, spiral orb webs, sheet webs--and tiny hairs on eight legs that stick things so they can walk up walls and (OMG!) across ceilings. . . .

SMASH IT! RIGHT NOW! 

Their whole family is a gross-out group. Spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. Ick! Some of themcan make us sick! Seriously. Most of them a a trifle venomous, and not a few can cause diseases and other gross stuff.

Mind you, there are 40,000 species of spiders. Only a few (e.g., the black widow and brown recluse) can ruin your day. And many are part of that honorable group called BENEFICIAL spiders.

A SINGLE SPIDER CAN EAT OVER 75 POUNDS OF BUGS IN A YEAR!

That's all fine for me--if not for the critters that make up their dinners. And some spiders can weave a web with a heart in the center. Is that sweet or what?

Wait! What's that?

AHHHHH!

COCKROACH!

Where's that big spider when you need one?

When it comes to creepy crawly critters, it's always something, in Bethany Barton's I'm Trying to Love Spiders (Viking Press, 2015). With a nod to the inevitable arachnophiles out there, Barton's discourse on the downside of spiders is more than a little tongue-in-cheek. Her little spiders tend to be cute and comic, although the squished splats on several pages are appropriately yucky!

Along the way, though, curious kids can cull quite a few facts about the hard-to-love creatures shown in this light-hearted look at arachnids. Her watercolored drawings, hand-painted red and black text, and skillful page design add comic drama to the pages, and her similarly illustrated endpapers present more than several varieties of curious arachnids--the diving bell spider, happy face spider, peacock spider, spiny-backed orb-weaver, bird-dung crab spider, and the (Oh, my gosh!) giant golden bird-eating spider.

THINK OF THEM LIKE BUG NINJAS!

The careful curating of animal science and creepy critter pyschology make this one a natural for a readaloud for arachnid nature units and cross-the-curriculum literature and biology study for primary students. "The skillful juggling of scientific fact and emotional truth make this a winner," says Publishers Weekly starred review.

The Starving Time: The Wolf~Birds by Willow Dawson

DEEP IN THE WILD WINTER WOOD
WHEN THE SNOW FALLS AND
THE ICY WINDS BLOW,

TWO HUNGRY RAVENS HUDDLE
IN WAIT FOR THEIR NEXT MEAL.

It is the time of year some Indians call the Wolf Moon, for the hungry wolves that wail from the wooded hills. Some even call it the Starving Moon.

A pair of ravens huddle together on a bare branch, their heads capped with snow, waiting for the sun to rise and melt the snow just enough to show where the burrows of seed-collecting little animals lie. One raven pokes her head inside, as deep as she dares, hoping for a bite of something hidden there.

And nearby a pack of four wolves has caught the scent of a buffalo. They give chase, but the powerful bison kicks out at the lead wolf at his heels, and the hunter falls, dead.

THREE WOLVES MUST SAY GOODBYE.

The three wolves move on, always looking for food.

THEN THEY HEAR A FAMILIAR SOUND...

KAW  KAW--THE SOUND OF HUNGRY RAVENS.

The ravens have seen something from their tree, a starving deer, limping and alone.

The wolves understand. They follow the ravens' call. The chase is brief.

ONE ANIMAL'S LIFE HELPS MANY OTHERS LIVE.

The wolves fill their empty bellies, and the ravens dart in to take their finder's fee. Then the ravens make their own cache for leftovers under the snow, and the wolves depart, carrying food back to their den where a mother is waiting, curled around her cubs.

THE STARVING WAIT FOR SPRING'S RETURN COMES TO AN END.

"Did you know ravens are also called wolf birds... because of the very special relationship they have shared with wolves," says author Willow Dawson, in her just published The Wolf-Birds (Owlkids Books, 2015). A powerful story of the cycle of life and the cycle of the seasons, this one also describes the cooperative relationship called mutualism between the clever scavenger birds and the predator wolves. Like black-hooded ninjas, the ravens of the far north act as spies for the wolf pack, infiltrating the woods, perching high and soaring over the landscape and leading the wolves to prey that the ravens cannot bring down but surely will share.

Life is hard in the far north, but this exquisitely designed and illustrated picture book's lovely style, limited palette, and fluid line has a stark beauty of its own. Even the visually striking endpapers reinforce the seasonal theme, opening with snow-drifted birch trunks and closing with budding twigs and new leaflets emerging as life goes on.

Dawson adds an explanatory author's note and a bibliography of her sources in creating this story.

Strength in Numbers: Ninja Bunny by Jennifer Gray Olsen

HOW TO BE A SUPER AWESOME NINJA

Rule 1: A super-awesome ninja must always work alone.

Our little bunny, wearing his midnight-blue ninja gear, is determined to be awesome. The Ninja Rules say he should be super sneaky, possess awesome strength, achieve invisibility, create Ninja weapons, and be a super awesome climber.

While a dozen or so ninja-wannabe-bunnies watch as if they want to join the fun, Ninja Bunny shows awesome focus on his training. swinging his throwing star and monkey fist, both fitted out with purloined carrots, like he means it.

But some of the rules get a little intimidating. "Master flying?"  "Battle anyone, anywhere, any time???"

What about a big angry brown bear?

"UH-OH."

Suddenly little Ninja Bunny hears a welcome sound, a chorus of awesome voices.

HI-YAH!!

It's the cadre of his would-be ninja bunny buddies charging to his rescue with all the right moves, as the big bad bear exits hastily, page right.

It's one for all and all for one in Jennifer Gray Olson's Ninja Bunny (Alfred A. Knopf Books, 2015).

Rule 1 is over-ruled and from now on, Ninja Bunny goes nowhere without his squadron of super-ninja-bunnies. In her oh-so-cute ink and watercolor illustrations, Olson's empathetic illustrations show off just how far from awesome her self-aggrandizing little Ninja's imagined feats really are.

Fun for little Ninjas and ninja-lovers, this one pairs well with H. D. Wilson's Ninja Boy Goes to School and Barbara DaCosta's Nighttime Ninja see reviews here).

Maybe He Just Forgot to Shave! Gorillas in Our Midst by Richard Fairgray

You know how it is. You get gorillas on your mind and you start seeing them everywhere!

GORILLAS ARE HARD TO SPOT.

THEY'RE MASTERS OF DISGUISE.

That fuzzy-faced guy behind the newspaper on the subway? Can't be!

But just in case it's a good idea to keep a banana or two with you at all times.

Don't say you weren't forewarned!

GORILLAS OFTEN GET JOBS THAT LET THEM WEAR MASKS.

So, see, you've got to watch out for astronauts, scuba divers, surgeons, ninjas..., especially if they're kinda on the, um, burly side.

You may not spot them at the supermarket, but in the fresh produce section, if the sign on the banana bin says SOLD OUT, you-know-who has been there!

GORILLAS HAVE BEEN IN OUR MIDST FOR A LONG TIME.

SURELY YOU'VE HEARD OF GORILLIAM SHAKESPEARE?

OR APEBRAHAM LINCOLN?

But if you think you spy a gorilla, look again. It's probably just an orangutan.

THEY'RE TERRIBLE AT HIDING.

Richard Fairgray's gloriously tongue-in-cheek Gorillas in Our Midst (Sky Pony Press, 2015) offers kids the secret scoop on spotting undercover apes, while illustrator Terry Jones' artwork aids and abets the author's deadpan delivery and preserves the putative great ape's deniabilty with a nod and a wink to savvy readers. Only grown-ups of a certain age can be expected to get the pun in the title,* but although Jones' droll blackline illustrations tell the story well, older kids (those who have at least heard of William Shakespeare, for example) will especially get the wry humor in this one and ape-preciate its sly sophisticated wit.


*Dr. Dian Fossey's classic nature memoir, Gorillas in the Mist.

Cyber Shopping: Some Book-Linked Tips

If the kids you shop for are anything like the ones I know, toys have proliferated since baby days and threaten to take over the house. With the space-eating syndrome in mind, here are some space-sparing gifts, all with links to popular books, for holiday shopping which will be appreciated by their parents.

Based on the popular I Spy picture riddle books by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick, these computer versions really do provide hours of skill and vocabulary building fun. The games are officially rated for ages 6-10, but my youngest grandson, now four, has been playing these on his own for over a year. I've sat in on these games with him and find them intellectually challenging, fun, and surprisingly engrossing, teaching concentration and attention to detail in a highly rewarding way.

The I SPY games are cleverly designed to make them non-frustrating for young users. Each page reads the picture riddle clues aloud whenever they are clicked on, and clicking on objects in the pictures provides a sound effect and a re-reading of the clue which matches it. The program saves the player's place when he or she stops, has the player accumulate bonus tickets which entitle him or her to put together clues to solve the final mystery and play additional games not available in the books. A clever touch puts the player's login into some of the interactive pages as headlines on newspapers or locations (Joseph's Cafe', Jules' Bait Shop, for example). And when the player completes all pages, he or she can put in a new login and play again, with new riddles for each screen.

In addition to I SpyTM Fantasy DVD Game (shown above) others in this outstanding series include I Spy Treasure Hunt DVD Game, and I Spy™ Spooky Mansion DVD Game.

For younger players or those less practiced with the mouse, there are beginner versions also, especially I Spy Junior Educational Computer Game.

Favorite Fiction--Boxed Sets :

For series readers, there's nothing like a boxed set to keep those pages turning, and what's better than a good book or two or three over the holidays when the grownups get boring or the snow turns to drippy slush. Here are a variety of some kid-tested top sets:

Junie B.'s laugh-out-loud kindergarten adventures continue in Junie B. Jones's Fourth Boxed Set Ever! (Books 13-16), as the irrepressible Junie B. swings into the spring of her Kindergarten year, keeping her teacher Mrs. and her mom on their toes as farm field trips, Valentine's Day, family weddings, and field day roll around. A great beginning chapter book or hilarious family read-aloud experience for all ages!


In a light-hearted fantasy series which combines exciting adventures with lessons in geography, science, and history, Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 5-8: Night of the Ninjas, Afternoon on the Amazon, Sunset of the Sabertooth, and Midnight on the Moon takes Jack and Annie from prehistoric days to a walk on the moon in four of their most suspenseful trips in their magic tree house. One of the most popular of all beginning chapter series, these short and highly readable novels are often used, with their classroom guides by the author, as curriculum drivers for grades 2-5. (Ages 7-10)


Megan McDonald's loyal readers of her Judy Moody series demand equal time for pesky little brothers! Well, it's Stink Moody's turn, with a set of his first beginning chapter books now available as Stink: The Super-Incredible Collection: Books 1-3 (Stink), featuring STINK: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING KID, STINK AND THE INCREDIBLE SUPER-GALACTIC JAWBREAKER, and STINK AND THE WORLD'S WORST SUPER-STINKY SNEAKERS. (Ages 7-10)


Funny and on target with middle elementary readers, Andrew Clements' set of school stories, Back to School (Boxed Set): School Story; The Report Card; A Week in the Woods provides three fast-moving stories of fifth- and sixth-graders who embrace the challenges of middle childhood with verve and good sense. (Ages 9-12)


Part thrilling adventure, part deep-rooted English fantasy, part spiritual allegory, the children's novels by master C.S. Lewis, known collectively as The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set, have been universally popular for decades and should be part of every child's reading experience, whether read independently or read aloud. (Ages 9-14)


No fantasy series is better known or loved than Madeleine L'Engle's Newbery classics, Wrinkle in Time Quintet Boxed Set (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, An Acceptable Time), a sequence which spans two generations of Meg Murray's and Calvin O'Keefe's family story. Suspenseful, magical, and meaningful, these five novels are truly stories for the ages, to be savored, read, and re-read. (Ages 9-14)


Set in the near future, when government forbids, upon pain of death, the birth of third children in any family, this fast-paced, suspenseful series, Shadow Children Boxed Set: Among the Hidden, Among the Impostors, Among the Betrayed, and Among the Barons, deals with themes of government and personal responsibility, law and freedom, as third-born Luke, himself one of the "shadow children," fights for their right to exist in a corrupt and closely controlled society. (Ages 9-14)


Ann Brashares' four best-selling young adult and teen novels are brought together here in Sisterhood 4-book boxed set, in which a well-traveled pair of jeans keep best friends Tibby, Carmen, Lena, and Bridget, the famous Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants connected and together over a significant period of their lives. (Ages 12-18)

For hard-core fantasy lovers, young adult readers have flocked to this serious, imaginative, and thrilling series by Christopher Paolini. Inheritance 3-Book Hardcover Boxed Set (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr) includes the first three books in this best-selling series, in which fifteen-year-old Eragon raises a young dragon and takes on the powers and responsibilities of a Dragon Rider in a time of great turmoil and promise. (Ages 12-18)

Movies from Books:

Not all good books become good movies of course, but some hold their own despite their filmmakers, who often can't resist juicing up the monsters or slipping in some slapstick. Here are some books-to-movies which have succeeded without abandoning the heart of the books upon which they are based.

The latest movie versions of the Narnia novels have been hits, thanks to their strong young players and spectacular cinematography. Now available are The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Full Screen Edition) and the most recent, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

The Water Horse - Legend of the Deep (Two-Disc Special Edition), Dick King-Smith's novel of a Scottish boy who finds a large egg in the loch and hatches it into a water horse--a baby Nessie--features beautiful scenery and an exciting adventure tale of a family who must hide their unusual and fast-growing pet from both curious neighbors and invading Nazis.

Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies) stars in a charming remake of Noel Streatfeild's classic 1930's novel, Ballet Shoes, the story of three stage-struck orphan girls whose understanding adoptive family helps them realize their dream to dance en pointe.

Based on The Agony of Alice, one of the 23 Alice McKinley books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice Upside Down has been praised as a film about a real, likable, 'tween girl without the attitude which spoils most teen girl flicks. Alice (Alyson Stoner) finds herself entering a new school for her first year of middle school--finding new friends, including a boyfriend, and adjusting to a unique teacher played by Penny Marshall.