Hello, friends! Well, we’ve done it! One whole year of reading! Thanks so much for all your support! We’ll be posting this one last review today, then we’re taking a week off for some family time, but we’ll be right back on Father’s Day with a special book. As for today, we’ve read Ninja! by Arree Chung, a playful tale of make-believe.

The tools of the ninja? Silent shoes, sticky gloves, unbreakable rope (a jump rope will do). The powers the ninja must display? Speed, stealth, strength, courage. And so young Ninja Maxwell learns as he dons his costume and explores his home, wrestling mighty beasts (the family mastiff), practicing the art of surprise (on his napping dad), and utilizing a ninja’s stealth to swipe his little sister’s snack. His powers get him into trouble for the latter, but Maxwell owns up to his misbehavior, instead promising to teach the ways of the ninja to the next generation, his baby sister.

This was a cute book that took a very specific subject and had a lot of fun with it. Maxwell’s home-made ninja tools and outfit, and his immersion into his game of make-believe, are full of the childhood rambunctious yet ingenious mischief all children love. Plus, him getting carried away with his ninja skills and inadvertently causing his sister to cry, followed by his genuine remorse and attempt at reconciliation, is a nice lesson about remembering the difference between playing pretend and real-world consequences. The comic-book style art is fun and makes each page feel dramatic and action-packed, and the length is good for even the littlest bookworms. We liked this one, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved!