Boom! Pow! Meet the Crime-Fighting Animals of Ninja Timmy

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What do you get when you cross a talking ninja cat with a couple of pig brothers, a charming mink, and a kindly toymaker? Me! Because that’s the kind of story where I’m all in.
That’s also the world of Ninja Timmy, a middle-grade novel by Henrik Tamm in which animal friends transform themselves into crime-fighting ninjas.
Let me repeat that: Animal ninjas. Oh, yeah. Bring it.

Notes From Your Bookseller

A successful visual artist and concept designer, Tamm spent several years at Dreamworks Animation and worked on many of their feature films, including the first Shrek. So it’s no surprise that Tamm has translated the visual elements of world-building into this highly imaginative and fantastical story.
Originally published in Tamm’s native Sweden and just released in the United States, Ninja Timmy centers on a loveable and curious cat named Timmy, his handsome mink pal Simon, and their friends, a pair of clever pigs named Casper and Jasper, who live in the chaotic, crowded city of Elyzandrium. Together they invent and build machines to make life easier.
Their lives run smoothly until one day when one of the machines—an orange-peeling apparatus—makes their lives significantly harder. A gang of wild boars sets their sights on the guys’ latest invention and robs the friends, leaving them reeling from the attack.
That’s when this action-adventure story with heart really takes off. The guys decide to fight for what’s rightfully theirs and make the bustling streets of Elyzandrium safe once more. Along the way, Timmy befriends a loveable old toymaker and a sassy cat pilot, who help him in this hero’s journey. Their quest takes on a greater urgency when an evil blue bunny steals the laughter from the children in Elyzandrium, which has the potential to lead to horrific consequences.
Tamm’s story was inspired by a visit to old Beijing, when he encountered a tiny, grey cat on a rooftop. Imagining the adventures this feline must have in such a populous place, the tale of Timmy began to unfold.
Though this is a story that slips the readers down a whimsical, Wonderland-like rabbit hole, it is also a novel with a very real sense of what’s right and wrong. Friends band together to overcome obstacles, a theme sure to resonate with readers of about 8 to 12 years old. Oh, and I did mention that they’re freaking ninjas?
Chock full of rich, full-color illustrations, Ninja Timmy is the kind of book that rekindles the excitement of turning the page. Each vibrant, fanciful drawing instantly transports the reader to the crowded streets of Elyzandrium.
Is your young reader a fan of crime-fighting animals?

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