Finally... a book for those boys (and girls) who are always accused of fibbing (and who are really telling the truth)! ( )

Alex Latimer delivers a comical spin to the classic "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," all the while keeping its intended moral. In it, Time has a problem. He's telling the truth but his his parents still punish him for all the things going wrong. Is it his fault the truth is so fantastical? Why is it so hard for them to accept that a ninja finished the last of the cake? Or that a sunburned crocodile broke the TV antenna?

Let's be honest, the title drove me to the book. I couldn't help it. If a children's book contains the "ninja" or "zombie" in the title, I'm picking it up. 99.9% (thus far) I put it right down. But Latimer offers us something great. Something that parents would have fun reading to their little ones and readers as old as third-grade (possibly older, but I'm winging the age recommendation here) can relate to. On the plus side, children will adhere to the message of telling the truth no matter what. I think that's something we can all relate to, no? ( )

I liked the book "The boy who cried ninja" by Alex Latimer. I enjoyed the language used as well as the illustrations. This book uses simple, but descriptive language to tell its story. The book has a simple format throughout so a newer reader could get used to reading that format while also being introduced to new words. Additionally, I like the illustrations. The style of the artwork adds a sort of fantasy to the book, and I enjoy the clean lines used throughout. The message of this book is that you should believe in others, because they could be telling the truth even if it is unbelievable.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was an adorable story of a little boy who experiences all sorts of unbelievable things. When he tells his parents that the unfortunate events had occurred due to other these unbelievable characters, they do not believe him. After deciding to lie so that he will not get in trouble, he stills takes all the fault. Therefore, he devises a plan and invites all the strange characters, like a “ninja, then an astrounaut, a giant squid, a pirate, a crocodile (recently recovering from a sunburn), and a time-traveling monkey.” The story is a great twist on the boy cried wolf story, but instead of a boy who lies and therefore nobody believes, this was of a boy who told the truth but was not trusted. It taught a good underlying lesson because the boy was persistent in his truth and even found a way to prove his innocence. He tried to lie to see if it would make his life easier, but realized that it was not the correct way to help himself. The character showed a lot of depth considering the short length of this book. Finally, I absolutely loved the illustrations of this story. The drawings are very cartoon or comic styled and are very colorful and easy on the eyes. They added depth to the story as well, by adding visual representations of the various characters and situations throughout the story. ( )

There are a few reasons I liked this book. The first reason I liked it is because of the point of view it was in. Each time the parents yell at the young boy for something he says it wasn't him, which the reader knows is true. The boy eventually lies to the parents that he has been doing all the bad things but again, the reader knows who is really doing it. It is a funny take on a book because even though his parents think he is making everything up the reader knows that everything the boy is saying is the truth. The second reason the book is good is because of the language. It is clear and does not have many hard words that young children would not understand. There are not many words on one page which would allow a young student to read it with ease. For example one page has only the words, "A giant squid ate my whole book bag while I was off buying ice cream." The third reason I like this book is because of the illustrations. The written words in this book seem to be in a font that looks like handwriting. The illustrations in the book seem informal and simple like the writing, which allows them to fit together well. The big idea in this story is to always tell the truth because that is what will set you free. ( )