If I Were a Zombie

by Kate Inglis

Illustrated by Eric Orchard

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-356-0

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2016

With Halloween almost upon us and young children (OK, adults too) thinking about costumes, consider reading If I Were a Zombie to jump start those creative juices and delight young readers with the back-and-forth poems of two friends, Evan and Poppy,  imagining life as monsters and other-worldly creatures.

The list of creatures that Kate Inglis includes is extensive: zombie, fairy, robot, giant, vampire, witch, ninja, ghost, alien, superhero, sea monster, goblin, skeleton, mermaid, and even adult. There’s something a little scary and a lot funny about all of them. Each double-spread has a full-page illustration and a multi-stanza rhyming poem about the entity each child envisions for themselves.

If I were a zombie
I’d package my drool
Put it in Mason jars
Sell it at school. 

I’d mumble and stumble to sniff out some lunch

Chase Ben and Lucy…
(Think they’d be juicy?)
And sweet little Tilly?
“Quit runnin’, silly!
All I want’s a good nibble and munch. (pg. 3)

So begins Evan’s speculative verse about being a zombie, and the two children’s remaining proposals are just as evocative.  There are discussions of the robot’s price tag and robospeak (AFFIRMATIVE for yes, NEGATIVE for no, And DOES-NOT-COMPUTE for “I ain’t gonna go.”; pg. 7); the ninja’s "collection of secrets and dark-of-night prizes" (pp. 15); a pirate ghost who knows of Oak Island and eluding the Mounties; an alien called Zeekoid the Freakoid ready to take over New Brunswick; and a photo-bombing sea monster that has ...

...stingers for fingers
Seaweed for hair
Flip-floppy gills
And a bum that’s bare.” (pg. 23)

From If I Were a Zombie 

by Kate Inglis, illus. by Eric Orchard

But most wonderful of all is the cool dad who declares that,

I’d stay up past midnight
And my kids would too
We’d eat pretzels with pop
That turned our tongues blue. (pg. 31)

Eric Orchard, who illustrated The Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate (Nimbus, 2008), easily gets down and dirty in his imaginings of these weird and wacky characters.  The illustrations are as bold as their colours and more fun than scary, sure to entertain young readers with their quirky whimsy.

From If I Were a Zombie

by Kate Inglis, illus. by Eric Orchard

If I Were a Zombie pairs Kate Inglis’s imaginative rhymes with Eric Orchard’s fanciful but goofy creatures in such a way that life as an other-worldly creature seems almost cool, even if it requires eating nachos with brain dip.

Ninja Cowboy Bear

Still doing rock-paper-scissors?  Need a bit more kinesthetic activity? Want to support Canadian authors and illustrators?  Then, have I got a series for you.

Two young men, David Bruins and Hilary Leung, have come together to produce Ninja Cowboy Bear, a series of books based on the unlikely friendship of these three characters.  Ninja, Cowboy and Bear love spending time together - swinging, cycling, baking, kite-flying - regardless of their very strong differences.  The stories revolve around the three friends and how they work through their differences in personalities and abilities in order to stay friends.

Illustrator Hilary Leung's charming characters are recognizable even to very young children, who will enjoy the detailed but unencumbered drawings of their activities.  Teachers and parents will love the lessons about accepting differences but the kids will love the playful interactions of the friends and learning how to play the new version of an old decision-making strategy.

To date, three books in the series have been published:

The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear
by David Bruins and illustrated by Hilary Leung
Kids Can Press, 2009
978-1-55453-486-9

Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents The Way of the Ninja
by David Bruins and illustrated by Hilary Leung
 Kids Can Press, 2010
978-1-55453-615-3

Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents The Call of the Cowboy
by David Bruins and illustrated by Hilary Leung
 Kids Can Press, 2011
978-1554537488




Of course, one of the best things about the series is the game Ninja Cowboy Bear.

To play the game:

1. Use Hilary Leung's illustration here to learn the 3 moves of the characters. Ninja looks ready to attack, one leg bent and raised.  Cowboy pulls two guns out, ready for a shoot-out. Bear holds both arms up to look big and scary.

2. Stand with your back to your partner and decide which character's pose you will use.

3. When ready, take 3 steps away from each other, counting to three.  Turn around on "3".

4. See who wins.

 (Both of the above game diagrams are provided as downloads at the Ninja Cowboy Bear website of David Bruins and Hilary Leung.)

I would recommend checking out their amazing Ninja Cowboy Bear website for information about the books and the game, as well as accessing colouring sheets, crafts, T-shirts, and contact for the author and illustrator.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable fourth book in the series.  Roar of the Bear? Hibernating with Bear? Your guess is probably better than mine.