Title: The Three Ninja Pigs
Author: Corey Rosen Schwartz
Illustrator: The FABULOUS Dan Santat
Published: Scholastic, 2012

One great day at Scholastic,
An editor thought he might,
Call on his pal Dan,
And to finish his plan,
He’d get his buddy Corey to write!

By joining their incredible forces,
Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat,
They took an old fave,
Made it cool and brave,
And really fun to read at that!

OK, so writing in limerick isn’t everyone’s forte, but it certainly is Corey Rosen Schwartz’s. When we first got The Three Ninja Pigs, I wasn’t sure if:

1. There might be too many ninjas in the book.
   2. The rhymes would be fun to read aloud (I’m looking at you, awkwardly written Berenstain Bears books).
   3. The book would appeal to my ladies.

After reading The Three Ninja Pigs, I learned:
1. There’s no such thing as too many ninjas.
2. There’s no one who rhymes quite like Corey Rosen Schwartz.
3. The ladies LOVE this book.

We LOVED The Three Ninja Pigs so much, we did a diorama of it for Vivi’s class. I had to read the story aloud to her class and I was a bit concerned about one line:
“Stay out of my hut,
Or I’ll kick your big butt…”
(snicker, snicker)

Anyway, the kids LOVED the story and didn’t even giggle (too much).

The art in this book is absolutely gorgeous. The use of straw, bamboo and cherry blossoms in the backgrounds is so peaceful and contrasts beautifully with the action occurring throughout the book. Being a kids’ book, the ‘violence’ is aimed at inanimate objects and just meant to ‘warn the wolf off’ as opposed to attacking him directly. The story has a happy ending and even a little glossary in the back that explains some of the terms used in the book (Lily loves the word ‘gi’).

My kids are always down for a Dan Santat book and all the more when he’s teamed up with Corey Rosen Schwartz.

Mama Rating: 5 “Kiya’s”/5
Vivi’s Rating: A+
Lily’s Rating: 5 Pig Gi’s/5