My Grandma's a Ninja

by Todd Tarpley, Danny Chatzikonstantinou (Illustrator)

Overview

"Terrific as a read-aloud... a wonderful message of tolerance, acceptance, and unconditional love."- Amy Shepherd, School Library Journal

A laugh-out-loud story about a karate-chopping grandma that will have children wondering what exceptional, out-of-the-box and surprising talents their grandparents might have!

When Ethan’s grandma suggests they take a zip line to school, Ethan realizes that his grandma is a little different. In fact, she’s a ninja! Ethan is soon the hit of the school when his grandma drops from the ceiling at show-and-tell, and teaches the kids karate moves and how to do back flips in slow motion.

But having a ninja for a grandma is not everything Ethan hoped it would be. When his grandma deflates his team’s soccer ball, everyone is upset—including Ethan. Why can’t he just have a regular grandma? he wonders, until his new karate moves help him out during the championship game and everyone is happy that his grandma isn't quite ordinary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735841994
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	03/01/2015
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Todd Tarpley is a former ninja who still enjoys covering himself in mud and leaves. He is the author of several picture books, including Ten Tiny Toes illustrated by Marc Brown. He lives with his relatively normal family in New York City. You can visit him attoddtarpley.com.

Danny Chatzikonstantinou was born in 1973. He illustrates children’s books and sometimes writes the words too. He learned his craft by drawing on napkins. Later, he moved to sketch pads and notebooks. Now he has a full set of sharpened pencils and tons of

Editorial Reviews

"My Grandma's a Ninja is a silly children's picturebook about a young boy whose grandma is a black-clad ninja! At first it seems amazing that she can leap through the air and teach his friends karate moves, but there are drawback. She deflates the soccer ball with one kick, and when she has him put mud and leaves on himself for camouflage, he gets in trouble with his mom. Can he persuade his Grandma to tone down her ninja-ness without hurting her feelings? Or does she have something completely different in mind? Exuberant color illustrations add just the right dose of whimsy to this playful story."

Midwest Book Review

"The illustrations are priceless, adding so much to the already fun plot, and that's exactly what a picture book should do...This is one of those books that will have to be read again and again and again and again."- Bookworm for Kids

From the Publisher

04/01/2015
K-Gr 2—Having a grandmother who is a ninja is awesome, right? She can ride a zip line, drop from the ceiling, and flip and freeze in midair. She can take you on adventures and impress all of your friends. But sometimes all of that action can rub people the wrong way. Ethan finds this out the hard way. At first, he is proud to show off all that his grandma can do, but when his friends get upset when she deflates their soccer ball and ruins practice before the big game, Ethan tells her enough is enough. So Grandma takes a break. This should make Ethan happy, but he realizes that he loves her for who she is and he misses her. He is thrilled when she shows up on game day, and he uses all of the skills she taught him to score big. This delightful picture book is full of humor and action. Terrific as a read-aloud, it will keep young children rapt from the first page until the last. It also has a wonderful message of tolerance, acceptance, and unconditional love. The illustrations are crisp, clean, and comical and add to the overall appeal of the book. VERDICT Children will have a hard time sitting still for this one, in a great way!—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

School Library Journal