The Ninjabread Man

by C. J. Leigh, Chris Gall (Illustrator)

Overview

The ninja animals try to outsmart him, but the Ninjabread Man is one tough cookie!

"Try, try, as best as you can,you can't beat me,I'm the Ninjabread Man!"In this fun spinoff of the classic "Gingerbread Man" story, Sensei makes an age-old recipe for ninjabread. But the cookie escapes from the oven and runs loose!Can the Ninjabread Man trick Ninja Bear, Ninja Snake, Ninja Mouse, and Ninja Fox? In the end, the clever Ninja Fox outsmarts the Ninjabread Man.This action-packed ninja adventure features a wise sensei, adorable ninja animals, and one hard-to-catch cookie -- all brought to life by award-winning Dinotrux illustrator Chris Gall!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545814317
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Chris Gall is the illustrator of Little Red's Riding 'Hood and the award-winning author and illustrator of Dinotrux, Substitute Creacher, and Cat vs. Dog. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. Visit him online at www.chrisgall.com.
C. J. Leigh is a mysterious author of mysterious books for children. He has lived in a lot of mysterious places, but he currently resides in the most mysterious place of all, Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

06/27/2016
A sensei bakes a gingerbread cookie treat for his animal pupils, but the ninja cookie who emerges from the oven has other ideas, as every fan of this cumulative tale knows. In Leigh’s pseudonymously written version, the Ninjabread Man runs toward, rather than away from, the other characters, challenging each one to a fight and winning (“Try, try as best as you can, you can’t beat me, I’m the Ninjabread Man!”) until a fox dispatches the cookie by maintaining his meditative cool. Leigh’s story is at its best when it’s taking advantage of the comedic disconnect between action-movie seriousness and yummy baked goods, which extends to both the narration (“Suddenly, a sweet scent filled the night air. Danger was near”) and dialogue (“Ninjabread Man!” shouts Ninja Bear. “You will make a mighty morsel!”). Gall’s (Little Red’s Riding ’Hood) flat compositions, rendered in muted tones, don’t really tap into the humor to the same degree, though, and the cast of animal martial artists (which includes both panda and snake characters) can’t help but feel like a Kung Fu Panda redux. Ages 3–5. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Dinotrux by Chris Gall:* "Dinotrux ruled their world, and now they're likely to rule this one too. Bellow on!" — Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "Comically overheated narration... fire-roasted settings and hilariously imagined creatures." — Publishers Weekly, starred reviewPraise for Little Red's Riding 'Hood by Peter Stein and illustrated by Chris Gall:"It's Gall's bold pictures that give the narrative its horsepower." — Publishers Weekly"Gall's digital artwork is filled with bold colors and fine-lined textures. He cleverly uses the vehicles' parts to make their faces, right down to Granny's pearl earrings — her side mirrors." — Kirkus Reviews"The bold, bright illustrations by Gall are full of action and absurdity." — Booklist

From the Publisher

08/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—This humorous parody of a familiar tale, "The Gingerbread Man," is sure to become a hit with the young martial arts crowd. Sensei makes the ninjabread as a reward for his hardworking students. But when he opens the oven, "KA-POW! Out [leaps] the Ninjabread Man, alive and kicking." Children will relish Gall's large, action-inspired artwork. The rhyme and meter of the phrasing are great fun for reading aloud, with a twist on the well-known line in the climatic scene, "Try, try as best as you can, you can't beat me, I'm the Ninjabread Man!" For those who already know the story, Leigh has created a satisfying concluding page. VERDICT Little ninjas will eat this title up, and primary-age children will enjoy making comparisons with the original tale.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

School Library Journal

2016-06-01
A ninja-themed retelling of "The Gingerbread Man.""Once upon a time, there was a little old sensei who taught ninjas in a hidden dojo." Said sensei is a small fuchsia-and-white panda with trailing mustache and beard and a stereotypical conical hat, and his ninjas include Bear, Fox, Mouse, and Snake, all in black outfits tied with a colored belt. To reward their hard work, the sensei, working from an ancient recipe, crafts a Ninjabread treat: a tiny ninja complete with his own miniscule sword and throwing stars. When the cookie escapes the oven, the teacher warns his students with a gong. Bear, Snake, and Mouse hear it and confront the little cookie, but they fail to capture or eat him. Fox's difficulty hearing anything over the sound of the waterfall gives him the perfect way to lure the Ninjabread Man closer, to the cookie's demise. Leigh's retelling may enthrall kids practicing martial arts, but the tale is rather weak: the rhymes the cookie spouts are loose and sporadic; the fights with the other ninjas are over too quickly; and it's never clear just how the cookie succeeds against his much larger opponents. Spare, Asian-inspired scenes background the action of the ninjas, who all sport extremely mean faces when confronting their small nemesis. Adds little to the original while propagating Asian and martial arts stereotypes. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews