Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents the Call of the Cowboy

By David Bruins and Hilary Leung

When the bear wants to spend the afternoon photographing birds, the exuberant cowboy inadvertently makes a nuisance of himself as he loudly chews bubble gum, hops on a pogo stick and slurps a pop. When the ninja just wants to read quietly, the cowboy is wildly distracting as he drums on rocks, bats a paddleball and gabs on his cell phone. The cowboy’s boisterous mood prompts the ninja and the bear to drop their respective activities, leaving their pal alone to wonder why no one wants to be with him. Can he find the peace and quiet he needs to figure it out? Readers will appreciate the warm and witty approach to getting along and will also love the playfully bold illustrations rife with fun-to-spot detail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Release date: May 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781554539222

David Bruins

David Bruins is a practicing attorney. He attended Calvin College, Rutgers University-Newark (BA, summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa), and Villanova University School of Law (JD). He has previously served as an elder in the United Reformed Church (URCNA) and as a deacon in the Christian Reformed Church (CRCNA). He and his wife, Maureen, reside in New Jersey outside of New York City. They have four grown children and three grandchildren.

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Reviews for Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents the Call of the Cowboy

[mirikayla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very cute. The detail in the illustrations tells as much of the story as the words do, especially on the very first pages. Comes with silly little instructions for the Ninja Cowboy Bear game, too, which is essentially Rock Paper Scissors with your whole body instead of one hand.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ninja, Cowboy, and Bear are best friends who love do everything together, until one day a game goes awry. Suddenly everything becomes a competition and each friend wants to declare himself "the best." Over time, the friends come to realize that each has their own unique talents to contribute, and there is no need to constantly try to one up each other. Although it's borders on being too didactic, I really enjoyed this book. It's a great lesson for kids (and honestly, let's face it, some adults) to learn/be reminded of from time to time. The three disparate characters make it interesting, and these popular children's figures were clearly picked to appeal to young boys (and I think the book will no doubt prove successful in that). The illustrations are also fun, with an energy and sharpness about them that is pleasing and engaging.The only downside to this book is it tries to be more exciting by adding a "game" at the end, which is basically a large motor pantomime version of "Rock Paper Scissors" replaced with "Ninja Cowboy Bear." It just seemed a little strange to me to include something so mindlessly competitive after concluding a tale all about acceptance and discovering one's own special abilities, without having to lord them over someone else.