Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents the Way of the Ninja

By David Bruins and Hilary Leung

The creators of The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear return with a high-energy story about friendship. This time, the daring ninja learns that the greatest thrills and the best adventures are the ones we share.

The ninja’s playtime games are too rough-and-tumble for his friends the cowboy and the bear. The ninja isn’t interested in his friends’ games — and playing all by himself isn’t much fun. Can the rambunctious ninja ever meet his friends halfway?

Children will easily relate to the lesson about mutual respect embedded in a story about three different but nonetheless close friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Release date: May 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781554539239

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.

Book preview

��1^book_preview_excerpt.html

Reviews for Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents the Way of the Ninja

[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.