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NINJA NATE

Name: NINJA NATE
Author: Markette Sheppard
ISBN: 9781534476929

by Markette Sheppard ; illustrated by Robert Paul Jr. ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2023

An upbeat introduction to limb difference.

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A boy with a ninja alter ego battles the first day of school.

Ten-year-old “ninja master” Nathaniel Brown has been rocking his green ninja suit all summer; accordingly, his friends dub him Ninja Nate. He deems his older brother, Charlie, his sensei, but the boss is Mama Mary, who nurtures her ninjas “between snack-time rumbles and play-time fumbles.” When he’s not performing feats of “play-jitsu” with his silver sword, battling butterflies and deflecting sprinkler sprays, Nate chills like any other kid. The night before the first day of school, Ninja Nate dreams of combating “a gazillion nefarious ninjas” intent on conquering Potato Chip Dip Mountain. But he wakes to a harsher reality. After an accident, his leg was replaced by a prosthesis, which his costume has concealed; his sword is a sticker-dotted cane. Will his classmates accept the “new” Nathaniel? When he heeds Mama Mary’s advice—“One step at a time”—he discovers that his racially diverse classmates admire both Ninja Nate’s “cool ninja moves” and Nathaniel’s intelligence and kindness. While their ready acceptance of his limb difference is reassuring, the resolution feels somewhat rushed; readers battling similar anxieties may wish for more details. Bold, animated comic-style text and illustrations immerse readers in Nathaniel's vivid imagination while sympathetically conveying his apprehension and family members’ and friends’ support. Nathaniel and his family are Black. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An upbeat introduction to limb difference. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023

ISBN: 9781534476929

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
MY RAINY DAY ROCKET SHIP
by Markette Sheppard ; illustrated by Charly Palmer

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)