Ninja Ned

Ned Goes to Summer Rec

Just as many kids do, our Ned attended a rec camp this summer. A huge thank you to Emerson Recreation of New Jersey for inviting us to read with the campers and share some karate! How exciting it was to hear how some campers had already read some of Ned's tales and how Reluctant Hero (Book One) had made it on other kids' summer reading lists. 

Another huge thank you goes to student volunteers from The Dojo Paramus who demonstrated their karate skills to the group.

pic.twitter.com/119nvSoAPQ

— Emerson Summer Rec (@EmersonRecCamp) August 6, 2015

After all the fun, co-author (Master) Melissa Mertz and son Jack visited the Emerson library to donate a copy of Reluctant Hero. If you would like to see The Secret Path of Ned the Ninja books at your library, perhaps ask your local librarian to keep Ned in mind the next time they order new books.

Would you like to bring The Secret Path of Ned the Ninja to your school or group to talk about the series, character, writing, and karate? Contact us at mail(at)nedtheninja(dot)com.

 

 

 

We have lift off: The Secret Path of Ned the Ninja Book Three has launched!

So there's Ned, and we have a feeling he would be smiling even bigger if he wasn't so nervous over the lovely Adrianna to his left! But they are both pleased over this new story, which has Ned continuing to grow in many ways--but not without some hefty growing pains along the way. It doesn't help when your mysterious mentor isn't big on words and seems to like talking in code, either!

Power in Numbers is available in print and ebook on Amazon.com and in print on BN.com.

Thanks so much to Ned's growing number of fans and to the schools who have had Kea and Melissa in for workshops and assemblies! We hope you enjoy Power in Numbers and look forward to your reactions. To review any of Ned's stories, you'll find easy links here.

 

Ned Herts is back on Monday, July 20th!

What's more challenging than producing a book from point A to point Z? Doing so while prepping to move cross country! But just like Kea's move, Book Three came through. Power in Numbers will be available beginning this Monday, July 20th on Amazon in print and ebook. Are we excited?

We sure are...

Melissa tried to convince her son that Power in Numbers would look lovely as a hat!



...but he just wanted to cuddle up and read it!

Now how sweet is that picture? That's what happens when you ask your eight-year-old son to take a picture with mom and her book.

Kea wasn't so lucky... this is what happens when you ask your teenage son to take a nice picture with mom and her book....

Anyway, Ned was so excited that he used the occasion as a reason to call Adrianna. (Unfortunately, he's so nervous that he's still dialing ... hanging up ... dialing ... hanging up ....dialing.... )

And Cracker Jack? Well, he farted.

We know you're excited, too! So welcome, friends, to Ned's third adventure!




Want to celebrate, too? Give books one and two reviews for the occasion. It's easy! Just follow the links on our review page.  And thank you!

 

And the Title for The Secret Path of Ned the Ninja is .....

Hey, all!

Ned (and of course, his authors) are excited to announce the title of Ned's third adventure! 

Da ... da ... da ....

Stay tuned for the on sale date, available in time to add to your kids' summer reading list! That is, if they can wait until summer vacation to dig into it! Artist Chris Spliedt is putting the finishing touches on a super cover that will reveal an image of another character.  Who do you think it will be?

In other news... close to 2,000 readers took advantage of the Reluctant Hero sale! To those who did, you'll be happy to know that Book Two, Head in the Game, is available and, as mentioned, Book Three, will debut by June! While the Reluctant Hero ebook is back to it's $2.99 price, the $5.99 price for print is still going on, but will end without notice. So if you have a friend who might the series, let them know!

As always, thanks so much for your support!

Get Reluctant Hero FREE or discounted!

Please share the news with your friends!  Ned's first book, Reluctant Hero, will be FREE (ebook) or discounted (print) from May 7th to May 10th! What a great time to start the series since Book Three will be out before summer!

Another Awesome Assembly!

Who had a fabulous time at Berkeley School?

These girls!...

 

The highlight of the afternoon? One student raised his hand and told us that bullies are the ones who should feel different and left out--because there are fewer people who want to be bullies and make people feel bad. We don't anyone to feel left out, but the idea that the inner power we want kids to own should not be willingly handed over to a bully was well said and very encouraging!

   
We read selections from Reluctant Hero and Head in the Game, spoke about Ned's good qualities and flaws, introduced "mental martial arts" through the seven virtues of Bushido, explained that nobody has to accept the labels others give them, and demonstrated some karate drills and katas. 

Thank you so much, Berkeley PSO, for inviting us, to the staff and students who made us feel so welcome, and to the many parents who purchased our books!

 

 

Sharing some winners!

Hi all,

Just wanted to share the winners of the Character Creating Writing Workshop we held along with an elementary school Ned the Ninja assembly! We chose two winners from the fourth grade and two from the fifth.Students were asked to build a character who we found interesting due to a three-dimensional portrayal. We looked for talents, flaws, goals, fears, etc, in their characters. What you don't see is the list of questions on the backs of the sheets, but these four characters jumped out at us the most! Thanks to the students for entering. We really enjoyed reading through them all! Winners won a Ned the Ninja T-Shirt.

Kea and Melissa on Bookworm for Kids and Kidbits!

Hi all!

We were interviewed by Tonja Drecker of the Kidbits blog and were excited enough about that! Then Tonja read Reluctant Hero and Head in the Game and posted the most super reviews on her other blog, Bookworm for Kids. Please check it all out and enjoy Tonja's sites!

 

Ned the Ninja in (201) Family Magazine

Most people are psyched for the Super Bowl today. This is what we're psyched about!!

School Assembly Fun!

What's more fun than writing about Ned? Talking about him to 400 kids at an elementary school! Kindergarteners through fifth graders at Brookside Elementary in New Jersey were the perfect audience for some reading, writing, and martial arts fun! Melissa and I began the main program by talking about some of the characters, reading select sections from Reluctant Hero and Head in the Game, and talking about bushido--the code of the Samurai.

Next, our amazing cover illustrator, Chris Spliedt, read selections from his whimsical book of children's poems, Wishes for Fishes. Afterward, Melissa returned with black belts from her martial arts school to perform demonstrations. 

We loved how the assembly came together and how the kids--when quizzed to name the seven traits of bushido--were able to name all of them.

After the assembly, I led two half-hour writing workshops with the fourth and fifth graders. We built characters together (Bob and Brooke) and the students were challenged to create their own characters at home. In a couple of weeks, Melissa and I will announce the ones we liked best and four students will win a prize!

Melissa loved hanging out with the second and third graders, reading from Ned's story, and answering questions. What great questions and comments they had! We even have suggestions for the color theme for the third book's cover!

Chris created drawings of wild and whimsical characters with the kindergarteners and first graders. Super awesome results!

Thank you so very much to Brookside's PTO for inviting us and hosting us--and to the student helpers and teachers who also helped everything run smoothly.

Interested in having us come to your school? Contact us at mail(at)nedtheninja(dot)com for details and check out our school assembly page!

Best wishes,

Kea