Cat Ninja: Time Heist, a graphic novel purrfect for elementary ages

How elementary schools receive their books is a fascinating world. I’m in a different elementary school library almost every school day and the fact that I don’t see some series is quite surprising. One of them that is top of mind is the Investigators series. That series of graphic novels is one that every kid aged eight and up would love. In other cat-egories, Cat Ninja is a graphic novel series that elementary schools (and their readers) would laugh at, share, talk about, and would be constantly checked out by an eager queue of boys and girls alike. The second book in the series, Cat Ninja: Time Heist rips through the psyche of a typical nine-year-old-like catnip that’s been teasing placed on the back of a tiny revolving toy mouse.

Time Heist is absurdly comedic, a story-driven graphic novel that’s in league with any of the greats, like Dog Man, Barb The Last Berzerker, Trubble Town or anyone else that comes to mind when you want a mid-elementary school student to read. Young readers like anthropomorphic animals, action, and humor. Cat Ninja is wrapped in a layer of each and has a droll dash of shades of Perry the Platypus in there for good measure.

You see, Cat Ninja, the superhero cat that the entire city is talking about, doesn’t actually speak. Instead, Leon one of his humans, as well Master Hamster and his as his anthropomorphic friends, handle situations where the conversation is needed. Much like the agents in O.W.C.A., this affords our titular cat to use his eyes, tail, mannerisms and all manner of combat or action to react to what’s happening around him.

In Time Heist, Leon brings something strange home. Sure it looks like a giant egg, but it surely couldn’t be an ‘egg’ that has a real bird in it, could it? By the end of the first chapter, we see that it hatches and it surely couldn’t become its own superhero could it? It’s possible, or it might just be a key towards the future in which Cat Ninja has to travel to and possibly save the world.

The thing about Cat Ninja is that it’s so manic, fast-paced and entertaining that young readers will gladly strap into it for whatever comes their way. It’s as silly as Captain Underpants, as funny as Investigators, and has the color and graphics that will draw in elementary school readers. While it is an all-age graphic novel, it’s not light on words. There are some graphic novels that are 80% pictures. They’re fine, but they’ll skew slightly younger, like The Bad Guys or Dog Man. Having said that, our 12 YO still loves both of those series, even though the majority of his books are mglit.

I say all of that to exemplify that Cat Ninja is a graphic novel series that gives young readers confidence. Whether or not it gives them this confidence because of the increased text or because they will like reading it so much that it’s just physically closer, is one for individuals to figure out. Cat Ninja: Time Heist is a rollicking fun book that will be shared, invited by others to read, and continuously checked out, if you’re elementary school library has the advance 411 to have it in stock.

Cat Ninja: Time Heist is by Matthew Cody with illustrations by Chad Thomas and available on Andrews McMeel Publishing.

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