My niece, nephew, and I really like these Ninja Cowboy Bear books, and the kids have been particularly captivated by the ninja. My nephew and I read The Way of the Ninja today, and he really enjoyed it. He completely understood how the ninja's actions were impacting his friendships with the cowboy and the bear, and he seemed pleased with the pictures in this story, too.I liked this book because the pictures really are pretty and interesting (there are cute little details in them, too), and I was also impressed with some of the vocabulary in this book (e.g., merrymaking, buffoonery, hilarity, amusement, exhilarating). Those are not words that are terribly common in books aimed at younger kids, and I appreciated that the author chose to use these more advanced words in his story. I'm all for expanding kids' vocabulary while giving them great entertainment, and The Way of the Ninja does an excellent job of that.