Moby Shinobi and Toby too! Surf's up by Luke Flowers

Genre: Humor, rhyming stories

Protagonists: Male, white

Reading level: K

Series: Originally 5 easy readers, 3 Acorn titles

Originally reviewed in February 2020

Review: Moby Shinobi was originally an easy reader series, published from 2017 to 2018, and the three Acorn titles continue the same characters, rhyming scheme, and plotline of a "helpful ninja."

The story begins with Moby, a white boy with brown hair, and his dog Toby in the Shinobi Dojo. They decide to go to the beach, pack up their ninja tools and beach towels, and take off. Once at the beach, lots of people need help and even though he fails at first, Moby keeps on trying and eventually his ninja skills work out.

The art is bright and colorful, and always makes me think it's a tie-in to a tv show or cartoon. The only diversity is one brown-skinned friend and a few background people. The text is rhyming couplets, "Argh! The fish cannot be caught! Our lines are tangled in a knot!/I did my ninja best you see. Why do my plans not work for me?"

Verdict: These leave me cold and I doubt they will be as popular as Unicorn and Yeti or Crabby, but kids who like cutesy ninja books and those who enjoyed the Moby Shinobi easy readers will be happy to have these to supplement their reading.

Revisited: Especially since the series never continued past three titles, these never became really popular although I keep them as an additional offering for readers at this level.

ISBN: 9781338547528; Published December 2019 by Scholastic; Purchased for the library