Once upon a swine…
… there rode a beauty queen.
One contest day, she was sitting on her black, spotted pet pig, smiling out at the audience while juggling her boyfriend’s chainsaws, blindfolded!
Accidentally, she sliced her fingers off!
Three buckets of blood squirted on the judges.
‘AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!’
My fingers,’ she screamed.
Snowman and the Seven Ninjas starts with Miss Bacon, a talent contest and a few accidental amputations. While stemming the blood flow, Miss Bacon makes a wish for a monster made of snow, with eyes as red as blood and muscles as big as the butt of this pig. That may be the end of her, but it’s the beginning for a snow monster- ah – man, judged best new talent. Thrilled at being the centre of attention, Snowman continues to hog the limelight. Superdude, who until now has been the star of his own show, is Not Happy. Add in Ninjas called Farty, Scabby and the like and the scene is set for plenty of gross and gory action. Snowman and the Seven Ninjas is highly illustrated and includes text types that appear to have no function besides adding to the mayhem.
Once upon a fairytale … no, this is like no fairytale ever. The pattern may suggest Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but that’s about as close as it gets. Snowman and the Seven Ninjas features guts, ego, gore, bad body odour and showing off, on high rotation. Those looking for the structure of Snow White will find it and they may even be inspired to fracture their own fairytale. From the chaos and the warning on the cover, to the impending arrival of a meteorite, there is craziness and punnyness galore. Perfect for newly independent reader who enjoys snowmen, ninjas, vampires with their literature.
Snowman and the Seven Ninjas, Matt Cosgrove
Scholastic 2017 ISBN:9781743811696