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beecheralyson's review
3.0
What do you do when you tell the truth but no one believes you (well it was a bit outlandish)? And what do you do when you lie and still have the same results? A slightly odd story about a boy, and what he learns about telling the truth. May be a little over the heads of some children but could spark some good discussion.
readingthroughtheages's review
3.0
Young boys will enjoy this story - a different version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"... ninja-style!
leslie_d's review
4.0
When the last piece of chocolate cake went missing, it really was a ninja. And a giant squid did eat his whole book bag (wherein his homework was left). Oddly enough, no one believes Tim. So while he is forced to think things over while doing heavy labor, he decides maybe lying would be better. It isn’t. When a pirate drank all the tea from the pot, Tim “owned up.” When a time travelling monkey throws pencils at his sleeping grampa, “Tim said it was all his fault.” Tim comes up with a great solution over more chore-work and contemplation and it is a happy ending for everyone.
I wrote “Oddly enough, no one believes Tim,” but this simple 30-some page picture book demonstrates a daring sort of tension for which humor can allow. The boy isn’t naughty, as I think we expect in any tale referencing “The Boy Who Cried Wolf;” The Boy Who Cried Ninja questions that supposition. However, Tim is a bit of a known storyteller from page one’s illustration (free lunch, really?) and text (“Once there was a boy named Tim who no one believed”). Storytellers of any repute are suspect, aren’t they? I, for one, would be fully convinced by the sea monster tale. But which side takes the “storytelling” too far? The astronaut and sun-burned crocodile is playful, sure, but what do we do with the part where Tim feels like his truth isn’t believable and a lie is preferable, except it isn’t really. Maybe it is just that there is a recent conversation on ‘integrity’ on my mind, but: is there not some sort of line between the mischievous child and a bad child? The picture book makes us laugh at the sometimes ridiculousness of the adult-child relationship and the oft-times overly-simplistic moralist children’s story.
According to the copyright page, the “artwork [is] created as pencil drawings, digitized, then finished with color and texture.” The colors are warm and bright. Less really proves to be more, the humor emerging from the rather uncomplicated details of his straightforward, somewhat spare illustrations. Latimer removes the need to make a fine study of each character for children and adults to understand who and what they are about, posture and eye-lines in illustration do the rest. Latimer’s use of voice bubbles with images is wondermous; there is no need for the long text dialog there. And he extends speech bubbles over the next page to encompass a flashback of the actual event as Tim explains what actually happened. To see is believe, here. We do not just have to take his word for it.
~L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/illustrator-alex-latimer/
I wrote “Oddly enough, no one believes Tim,” but this simple 30-some page picture book demonstrates a daring sort of tension for which humor can allow. The boy isn’t naughty, as I think we expect in any tale referencing “The Boy Who Cried Wolf;” The Boy Who Cried Ninja questions that supposition. However, Tim is a bit of a known storyteller from page one’s illustration (free lunch, really?) and text (“Once there was a boy named Tim who no one believed”). Storytellers of any repute are suspect, aren’t they? I, for one, would be fully convinced by the sea monster tale. But which side takes the “storytelling” too far? The astronaut and sun-burned crocodile is playful, sure, but what do we do with the part where Tim feels like his truth isn’t believable and a lie is preferable, except it isn’t really. Maybe it is just that there is a recent conversation on ‘integrity’ on my mind, but: is there not some sort of line between the mischievous child and a bad child? The picture book makes us laugh at the sometimes ridiculousness of the adult-child relationship and the oft-times overly-simplistic moralist children’s story.
According to the copyright page, the “artwork [is] created as pencil drawings, digitized, then finished with color and texture.” The colors are warm and bright. Less really proves to be more, the humor emerging from the rather uncomplicated details of his straightforward, somewhat spare illustrations. Latimer removes the need to make a fine study of each character for children and adults to understand who and what they are about, posture and eye-lines in illustration do the rest. Latimer’s use of voice bubbles with images is wondermous; there is no need for the long text dialog there. And he extends speech bubbles over the next page to encompass a flashback of the actual event as Tim explains what actually happened. To see is believe, here. We do not just have to take his word for it.
~L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/illustrator-alex-latimer/
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
The main character gets into trouble whether or not he tells the truth.
gwimo's review
4.0
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?
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?
libraryjen's review
3.0
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. The illustrations were awesome! The story is fun, but it leaves me wondering if it's appropriate for the age of its target audience. Usually picture books are aimed at preschoolers or young elementary age kids. I worry this might be confusing for them. At first Tim is blamed for all kinds of mishaps, even though he tells his parents that a ninja, a sunburned crocodile, and an astronaut actually did the bad deeds. When no one believes him and he gets in trouble anyway, Tim decides to lie and take the blame. He still gets in trouble. The ending, while amusing to adults, could be confusing to young kids. Did Tim really lie or not? Did a pirate and a time-traveling monkey really show up at Tim's house causing problems? I might use this one in story time and just see how the kids react, but only if I can't find anything better.