Ninja Kid 4: Amazing Ninja! by Anh Do

Scholastic, 2019. ISBN: 9781760662837. 186p. pbk.
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Themes: Action/Adventure. In Ninja Kid4: Amazing Ninja! we can look forward to Anh Do's winning formula. From the first pages, we know that Dr Kane will be menacing Duck Creek and Nelson will somehow need Grandma Pat's best ever invention - an animal translator helmet. Anh Do's comedic skills endow him with perfect timing. He knows too well that his verbal and visual foreshadowing will provide readers with both the plenitude and humour to keep them coming back for more.
In this episode, Neilson and Kenny, aided by Sarah and Tiffany, are determined to perfect their circus acts, to win the chance to perform in the circus, soon to be passing through Duck Creek. Charles, the Mayors son, and a mysterious man with an amazing breakdancing rhino, prove stiff competition. The children are not disappointed, rather they are excited to witness the next rhino performance. Of course things quickly get out of control.
But when does Dr Kane become involved and just how will Nelson and Kenny use the Animal Translator to protect the citizens of Duck Creek?
Anh Do writes and draws the events in the plot with his usual blend of mirth and vigour - and most importantly, without giving away the identity of the Ninja Kid! In Amazing Ninja!, fans of the Ninja Kid can anticipate more word play, exaggerations, and hilarity from the whole Kane family, minus one - Kenny's absent Dad. Don't leave Kenny alone to ponder the paradoxes shrouding his Dad's disappearance. Ninja Kid 4 sees Kenny developing his Ninja Kid persona.
Deborah Robins