2020
WISE Score
Amazon
Think John Wick but with hairballs and zero trauma—it's the perfect gateway drug for kids who think reading is a chore.
4.8
4.8View →Our reviews and ratings are 100% unbiased, but as an Amazon Associate, Screenwise earns an affiliate fee if you buy a book or game by clicking one of our links. We don't get any credit if you just Google it instead :)
Cat Ninja is a massive win for parents of reluctant readers. It’s vibrant, funny, and fits right into the modern landscape of graphic novels that kids actually want to finish.
It’s not trying to be high art or a moral lecture; it’s just a solid, safe, and imaginative adventure that makes books feel like a treat rather than a chore. If your kid is in that first-to-third-grade window, this is a no-brainer addition to the bookshelf.
Perfect for the 6-to-9-year-old sweet spot—basically anyone who thinks farts are funny but isn't quite ready for a 300-page chapter book.
It maintains a lighthearted, heroic tone that avoids the mean-spiritedness often found in modern kids' cartoons. It models courage and responsibility through a pet-hero lens.
The 'secret life of pets' trope is dialed up with ninja lore and high-tech gadgetry, encouraging kids to look at their own mundane surroundings with a bit more curiosity.
Standard comic book action is the ceiling here. There is no mature language, sexual content, or gritty violence. It's a very 'clean' read for the early elementary crowd.
While not educational in a traditional sense, it is a powerhouse for literacy. It builds visual narrative skills and serves as a vital bridge for reluctant readers who find standard prose intimidating.
Claude is a gray house cat living in Metro City. Most of the time, he’s doing standard cat stuff—napping, being generally judgmental, and avoiding the vacuum. But Matthew Cody and Yehudi Mercado lean hard into the "secret lives of pets" fantasy, giving Claude a high-tech ninja identity that feels more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a sleepy picture book. It’s effective because it treats the action with enough respect that kids feel like they’re reading a legitimate superhero story, even if the hero is occasionally motivated by catnip.
If your household has already burned through every Dog Man or InvestiGators book in the school library, this is the logical next step. It hits that same sweet spot of visual slapstick and pun-heavy dialogue. However, Cat Ninja feels a bit more polished in its art style. The panels are clean, the colors pop, and the pacing is relentless.
For parents who are still skeptical about the format, it’s helpful to reframe how we look at these books. Instead of seeing them as a shortcut or "lite" reading, think of them as a training ground for complex visual literacy. We have a whole breakdown on why when kids only want to read graphic novels is actually a massive literacy superpower rather than a crutch. Claude’s adventures require kids to track multiple plot threads and character expressions simultaneously, which is a legitimate workout for a developing brain.
The only real "danger" here isn't the cartoon villains or the robot fights—it's the speed. These books are designed to be inhaled. You might buy Volume 1 on a Tuesday and find your kid asking for Volume 2 by Wednesday morning. Because the series has such high momentum, the storytelling is optimized for that "just one more chapter" dopamine hit. It’s the kind of series that turns the "ten more minutes of reading before bed" negotiation into a genuine struggle because they actually want to see how Claude saves Metro City.
If you have a kid who is a "one and done" reader, Cat Ninja is a great candidate for a re-read challenge. Because the art is so dense with background gags and "Easter eggs," there is usually a lot they missed the first time they zoomed through the dialogue bubbles.
Ask them to find the funniest thing a background character is doing in a crowded Metro City scene. It forces them to slow down and appreciate the craft of the book rather than just the plot. It’s also a perfect bridge for kids who are moving away from picture books but still feel intimidated by the "wall of text" found in traditional middle-grade novels.
Get a personalized guide on any topic
