Máire Zepf’s Rita picture books cleverly blend celebrating children’s unbridled imaginations with inviting them to reflect and empower themselves. In this case, while playing hide-and-seek, Rita is struck by a desire to have her very own ninja. After all, “a ninja is silent, fast and invisible”, a “ninja master would teach Rita the art of invisibility” - what better skills for a lover of hide-and-seek? Then, on reflection, Rita considers the fact that ninjas are sneaky, they like fighting, and they might even steal something (or someone…) she loves. So, she decides to be her own master instead!
Sparked by the author’s classroom experiences, and illustrated with verve by Andrew Whitson (better known as Mr Ando), this provides plenty of thought-provoking fun for 3+ year-olds.
Meet Rita. She’s a little girl with very big ideas. Rita loves to hide. She wants her very own ninja who will help her to train her body and mind. Hi-yaa! Then she will be quiet, quick and invisible. But when the ninja steals something close to her own heart, how will she respond?
Máire Zepf has written 12 books for children, from picture books to a YA verse novel. Winner of the KPMG Children’s Book of the Year, the Réics Carló Award and a White Raven in 2020, her books appear in 8 languages worldwide. The Co. Down author was the first Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, based at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at QUB (2017-19). She is Artistic Director for Quotidian - Word on the Street.
About her series, Máire said, ‘Rita is a little girl with VERY big ideas. She has lots of adventures coming up in which she dreams up fantastical solutions to ordinary problems, often with hilarious results! Each book is based around a different character and centres on a new theme. There will be robots and dragons, ninjas, genies and a fairy godmother who will help her explore notions from fairness and order to the genderisation of clothing and emotional regulation.’
