Samurai Kids : White Crane

Can a one-legged boy train to become a great samurai warrior?

Niya Moto is the only one-legged Samurai kid in Japan, famous for falling flat on his face in the dirt. None of the samurai schools will teach crippled Niya, until an offer arrives from the legendary samurai warrior Ki-Yaga, sensei of the Cockroach Ryu.Together with the other Cockroaches, Niya must defeat the fierce Dragons Ryu at the Samurai Trainee Games.

- An historically accurate depiction of feudal Japan; the focus on martial arts will appeal to active kids!
- The first in an exciting new series for boys and girls that celebrates differences.

About The Author

Sandy Fussell lives south of Sydney with her husband and two sons. She studied mathematics at university, is intensely interested in history, and now works in IT. Her series, Samurai Kids has been hugely successful with Book 3, Shaolin Tiger named as a Notable Book, Younger Readers Category in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, 2010 as well as being short-listed in the Speech Pathology Awards – Upper Primary Category, 2010.. Polar Boy, her first stand-alone novel was short-listed in 2009 for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Younger Readers, and her second stand-alone novel, Jaguar Warrior was released in March 2010.

About The Illustrator

Rhian Nest James has been working as a freelance illustrator for many years after graduating from Exeter College of Art with an Honours Degree in Illustration. She has produced illustrations for a wide variety of publishers and organisations but her speciality is children’s books, having illustrated over 60 children’s books and contributed illustrations to many more. Rhian moved to Sydney from her native Wales in 2002 and she continues to illustrate for others and work on her own projects. She is the illustrator of the best-selling Samurai Kids series (written by Sandy Fussell) and has recently illustrated the award-winning fiction title Toppling written by Sally Murphy.