Book Review: 10 Little Ninjas – by Miranda Paul

Book: 10 Little Ninjas
Author: Miranda Paul
Illustrator: Nate Wragg
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers 
Genre: picture book; 2 - 5 yrs; preschool to kindergarten
Date: August 9, 2016
Price: $14.99
My rating: Delightful variation of 10 little monkeys

10 Little Ninjas is a clever, thought-out variation of 10 little monkeys. It’s a rhyming book, in keeping with the nursery rhyme, but with children instead of monkeys. If you can imagine a household with ten children all the same age then you can understand the tiredness of the parents by the end of the children’s day.

It’s bedtime. Miranda Paul has 10 little ninjas sneaking out of bed, 9 tiny astronauts zooming in the dark, 8 rapid racers revving out the gate … and so on. The fun part is that Daddy is always calling in Mama to sort things out and she appears dressed for the part. For 10 ninjas she’s the sensei, for 9 astronauts she’s the pilot, for 8 racers she’s the marshal.

The illustrations by Nate Wragg are exciting, and rightly depicting Mama the lifeguard – by the time it’s 5 hungry sharks swimming lazy laps – looking a little worn out.  When it’s down to 2 sleepy dragons struggling to fly she’s dressed as a wizard and scolding with a yawn.

The last double page illustration is of all ten children sleeping in and on the huge bed, each in a different costume.

This is a fun story by Miranda Paul for young book lovers and early readers.

You can find 10 Little Ninjas on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂