DoJo Daycare

I chose the book DoJo Daycare as my daughter has just become completely enamored with martial arts.  She started in December and it has really helped focus her little frenetic mind and body.  When I saw a little blonde in a ninja suit on the cover of this book, I immediately thought of the girl.

Author/Illustrator: Chris Tougas

Publisher: Owlkids Books (September 9, 2014)

Prices: Hardcover - $13.56
Reading level: 3 to 7 years old
Interest level: Lower Grades
Physical Characteristics: 8.8 x 8.8 inches, 32 pages
ISBN: 1771470577
Genres:
Picture Book
Read aloud Book

Subjects:

Day care centers -- Juvenile fiction.

Stories in rhyme.

Ninja -- Juvenile fiction.

Annotation: Six young ninjas come to dojo daycare and create havoc

for the ninja master.

Summary:
On day ninja moms and dads drop off their ninjas kids at Dojo Daycare.  Once the parents leave, the ninja boys and girls make a mess, fight, don’t listen to their teacher and turn the school in to an absolute shambles. All day long the schoolmaster tries to get them to focus and listen, to no avail. The ninja’s will not obey their teachers mantra: honor, kindness, and respect — until one tiny quite ninja steps up to convince his ninja pals to clean up their mess and do the right thing.

Evaluation:
I love the illustrations.  They are digitally rendered on a completely white background and they seem to pop off the page in a manner that is completely fitting with the karate theme.  The rhyming story flows very well, and makes Dojo Daycare a great read-aloud option for kids.  It also lends itself to a first reader for kids who are a bit older, as there are short sentences and the rhyming can help with solo reading and sounding words out.  I think the beginning middle and end are strong in this book.  The lesson of behaving at school, listening to adults and having honor, kindness, and respect is a nice theme for kids just entering preschool and Kindergarten.

Similar Titles or Authors:
The Hungry Pig by Chris Tougas
The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz

Websites:
http://www.christougas.com/booksDojo.html

http://www.owlkidsbooks.com/Portals/0/docs/teachersGuides/3_Dojo_Daycare_Owlkids_Books_CCSS_Guide.pdf

Awards and Recognition:
Amazon’s best Book of the month pick

Professional Reviews:
Kirkus

New York Times

School Library Journal

All images © Chris Tougas