Ninja Cat: Whiskers of Choice
This week Michelle Fern chats with Justin Donner, author of Ninja Cat: Whiskers of Choice. For children to understand and remember important life lessons, the delivery of the message needs to entertain them. Justin Donner does a great job of tackling tough topics like bullying, stress, emotions, finances, socioeconomic differences and more in his new children’s book, Ninja Cat: Whiskers of Choice. Kid-friendly dialogue, cute black and white illustrations that kids can color, and warm and wise characters in funny scenarios all come together to help make learning important life lessons so much more enjoyable for children.
BIO:
About the Guys Behind the Mask
Author Justin Donner is a millennial parent, fully licensed financial agent (broker/dealer and investment advisor), criminologist, chef and author of the recovery memoir, "I Just Woke Up Dead" which led to the wisdom and peace to create illustrated children's book "Ninja Cat: Whiskers of Choice."
Editor Corrigan Donner is a kid who’s been said to have “next level” art skills, can mimic his favorite ESPN highlights in baseball, football and basketball with amazing feats of athleticism, and makes everyone LOL with wicked funny sense of humor.
Donner’s unique experiences (from both sides of the socioeconomic and geographic divide) allow depth in storytelling with an ease uncommon for authors of children’s books. Raised on the northwest Washington coast, Justin was coding MS DOS choose-your-own-adventure digital books as a pre-teen before leaving for college to become a honor's college pre-med student. The troubles which led to "I Just Woke Up Dead" began to occur before he moved to California and joined the fast-paced culinary world. After learning serious life-lessons and relocating to Minnesota, trials and tribulations led to Fargo, North Dakota where everything changed. That change included relocation to current hometown Minnetonka, MN.
Justin struggled with bipolar disorder and substance abuse before finding sobriety in 2012, events chronicled in "I Just Woke Up Dead" that have helped others find hope when rock bottom seemed like a nice place to stay. His wisdom and experience is a collection of life and formal education, including a Master’s Degree in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine, and a BS in Political Science and Psychology from North Dakota State University, as well as obtaining 2 financial licenses (series 7 and series 66), and is currently employed as an agent with a broker/dealer/advising firm.