Member Reviews
The Ninjabread Man is an adorable retelling of a familiar children's fairy tale. I love the new twist on this old tale, and I know my students will adore and hang on to every last word They will try to determine what the fate of the Ninjabread Man will be.
I'm convinced that you can't have too many ninja picture books, so this will be a welcome addition to the collection. It makes a good choice , as well, for a compare and contrast lesson with "The Gingerbread Man". It could also make a good cooking lesson making ninjabread man cookies.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of Twisted Fairytales The Ninjabread Man by Stewart Ross via Netgalley and boy oh boy it was highly entertaining with amazing illustrations. We all know the story of the gingerbread man but Twisted Fairytales turned the story on it's head changing the setting to Japan and the characters including the gingerbread man into Ninjas. I do hope they do more of these books as I think children will be totally entertained and adults too. I will have to give this 5 stars.
*received free copy from netgalley for honest review* I did not really care for this book and am happy I read things before reading them to kids, this book is just uh odd, I don't really feel comfortable with the way they talk about "ninja:" , its just very, odd. the book itself is close to the original I guess and the arts not bad but its also not a original idea I guess so yea. could have been better ...
The following review was written by my 7yo:
1: What was the book title?
The Ninjabread Man
2: What was the book about?
It was about two old people, who were ninjas.,who wanted a child.
3: Did you like the story? Why/Why not?
Yeah, it was good, I don't know. But I liked the book!
4: What was the best bit about the story?
All of it.
5: What was the worst bit about the story?
None of it
6: Would you recommend the book? Why/why not?
Yes. All ages
7: How many stars would you give this book out of 5?
1000
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An elderly, retired, ninja couple desperately long for a child, so they visit Crafty Fox who instructs them how to bake a Ninjabread man, with specific instructions regarding quantities of lemon, ginger and wasabi to make him speedy, sneaky and brave. The couple overdo the ingredients, and the Ninjabread man comes out of the oven even more fiesty than they had hoped, and causing chaos and destruction throughout the village.
As per the original tale, the chase is then on, with the couple soon joined by a horse, a cow, a dog, and finally Crafty Fox, all of whom call on their ninja skills to try and outwit the Ninjabread Man, but “Try, try, as hard as you can! You won’t catch me. I’m the Ninjabread Man!”
The Ninjabread Man is a charmingly illustrated, cheeky retelling of the classic fairy tale “The Gingerbread Man” for modern, ninja-obsessed kids, with an unexpected twist at the end.
~We received an advance copy of the Ninjabread Man from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.~
What a cute book! My daughter thought this was one of her favorites. What a great way to dress up an old story!
Twisted Fairy Tales: The Ninjabread Man is a hilarious book that is a must read!
A lovely couple wants a ninja child to carry on their legacy, but they don't get exactly what they were asking for. After approaching a Crafty Fox, they prepare a Ninjabread Man instead of a child! And chaos ensues. Wherever he goes, Ninjabread Man creates havoc and chaos for everyone... and no one can catch him.
My fun notes:
1. Never trust a fox! It never goes well in children's books. These characters never learn!
2. If you do decide to trust the fox - please - for love of all that's good, write down the instructions. THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT!
3. Or don't follow the recipe... And see what happens!
My positive notes:
1. This story was super creative and seriously funny. I was grinning along at the hilarious twists on the Gingerbread Man tale. The ending had me chuckling the most because I didn't fully expect that to happen!
2. I think this book would be a great way to introduce young readers to fairy tales or try to put a different spin on one they've already heard. This book is by no means an educational tool, but it is fun! We definitely need more fun books out there to get kids to love reading. Without books like Grandma and the Pirates (a book from my youth), I wouldn't have loved books as much! I was given far too many educational only books in my youth. This sort of book (packed full of fun and goofy story lines) will create some lifelong readers.
I don't have many criticisms for this book. My only note would be for parents and educators to be aware that this book was designed for fun. You could totally spin some sort of educational tool out of it, but that's not the purpose of this book. And thank goodness for that!
Four out of five stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for a free copy of this sweet little fairy tale!
A different adaptation on a story we all know and love. However, much like the snow white version it is too wordy and not that original.
A ninjabread man? What's not to love. When an old couple wants their own ninja baby, they go to wise old fox for help. Little did they know what havoc would occur! A fun adventure.
The Ninjabread Man is from a series of books that updates Fairy Tales and makes them more interesting to new chapter book readers. Who doesn't love ninjas? The illustrations are cute and bright and the stories are fun. As with most fairy tales, there is a lesson to be learned with each. These would be a fun addition to the easy reader section of a library.
This story is based on 'The Gingerbread man.' In this story an old Ninja couple want a child who they can train themselves. However, they didn't follow the Crafty Fox's recipe so they end up with a naughty Ninjabread man who escapes. Like the original story they run after him but the ending is not the same.
I think this story is recommended for children in Year 1 or Year 2 that are beginning to read or can read. There are not a lot of difficult words to read. It's similar to the original story. There are colourful pictures.
My 6 & 4 year old daughters and I really enjoyed this book.
They love fairytales and have recently gotten into ninjas so this was great.
The book was beautifully illustrated and they laughed out loud when Crafty Fox' face turned red and he had steam coming from his ears from all the wasabi.
We enjoyed the twist on the usual ending too.
We look forward to reading more by this author.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for our honest review
Twisted Fairy Tales: The Ninjabread Man is a hilarious retelling of the gingerbread story we all know and love.
In the story, you will be an old ninja couple. Their adventurous days of being ninjas are over, but they still wish to have one grand adventure... a ninja child of their own.
The seek of in search of guidance from the Crafty Fox. He consults them to make a gingerbread child with "a pinch of lemon to make him speedy, a teaspoon of ginger to make him sneaky, and just a touch of hot wasabi powder to make him brave."
The two ninjas follow Crafty Fox's instructions to the best of their abilities. After all, it is hard to remember so many details. After some time in the oven, their little Ninjabread Man jumps out and begins to create havoc wherever he goes.
The couple once again turns to Crafty Fox for help to stop their Ninjabread Man. He agrees and brings along some of his fellow animal friends.
Time-after-time, the Ninjabread Man alludes to the group trying to stop him from his wild ways. That is... until Crafty Fox comes up with one final idea.
Twisted Fairy Tales: The Ninjabread Man is a story that readers everywhere will enjoy. What is not to love? It is ninja mixed in with a classic fairy tale.
As a classroom teacher, I would absolutely utilize this book to teach my fairytale unit. The Common Core requires students to look at different versions of the same story, and fairytales are often the best fit for this task. Ninjabread Man is a version that I know will quickly become most of my students' favorite version.
My 8-year old son and I read The Ninjabread Man together. He is familiar with the traditional fairy story the Gingerbread Man so was interested to read this and see how it compared. We both enjoyed it and liked the twist at the end, though he felt it was better for younger children.
Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in return for my honest opinion.
I liked this reinterpretation of The Gingerbread Man. It is funny and clever, using an entirely different setting, but the same main character types. The illustrations are fun and exciting, and the details in the text also brought a smile to my face more than once.
A very enjoyable take on a classic fairy tale. As an upper KS2 teacher, I can see lots of my class enjoying this book. It has humour, good depth of vocabulary to extend understanding and an engaging storyline and illustrations. It follows the familiar story of the gingerbread man but the Ninjabread man just feels that little bit cheekier and fun to read about. Definitely one to add to the class library.
[ I was sent an arc on Netgalley in return for an honest review.]
After enjoying one of the other books in this series--'Snow White and the seven robots', I was happy to see that there were more books that centered around other childhood fairy tales.
I thought the artwork was really adorable and I liked the new ideas that were presented through out the story.
Definitely a fun, short read that I shall be recommending to my younger siblings when it comes out in February!
Rating: 3.5/5
Very cute re-telling, I'd forgotten about this fairytale! Definitely for younger children, the artwork is lovely but I think you missed a trick by not having manga style illustrations! Anime and Manga are very popular with young people and it would tie in wonderfully, I also really wished the old couple had donned their old ninja garb too, I'm sure children would have found that funny.
This re-imagination of the gingerbread man was creative and engaging. My kids enjoyed it and while I found it a bit long (I’m used to reading short books but the kids are getting older or longer isn’t a bad thing) it was easy to read. Ninjabread is an easy substitute for gingerbread and sometimes I misread the word but it didn’t change the story for the kids because it sounds so similar.
Overall it was a cute story that I’ll definitely read to them again.
What an amusing new take on an old fairy tale.
This was cute and funny and I can't wait to get a copy in my nephews hands!
The illustrations had an innocence to them that I found pleasing.
Thank you NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for my DRC.