About the Author
Jeff Stone
Jeff Stone is the bestselling author of the global bestselling, multi-award-winning, middle-grade, kung fu action/adventure series, THE FIVE ANCESTORS, and its follow-up trilogy, THE FIVE ANCESTORS: OUT OF THE ASHES.
Like his main characters, Jeff was an orphan. Unlike them, he was adopted into the very best family imaginable. He was always curious about his past, so he began searching for his birthmother when he turned eighteen. He found her fifteen years later. A year after that, he found his birthfather.
A Detroit native, Jeff is the proud father of two adult children. His former wife is from Hong Kong, where they had a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony in the 90’s. Jeff’s immersion in Chinese culture and shared ethnic experiences with his children informs his writing, as does his training in kung fu.
In 2005, Jeff traveled to the legendary Shaolin Temple in China with ambassadors from a small kung fu association and was given the honor of testing for his black belt in their style. He then studied Wing Chun and Tai Chi with Master Sam Hing Fai Chan. These days, you can find him prowling the forest trails of his native Michigan on his XC mountain bike or adventure motorcycle.
Shaolin Temple
2005
Celebrating 20 Years!
Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining me on what has become the journey of a lifetime. Who’d have thought that five imaginary kids from 17th Century China could make such an impact?
Originally published in 2005 by Random House Children’s Books, TIGER: The Five Ancestors, Book 1 and its nine companion novels sold nearly 700,000 copies in 14 languages. Three of the novels received accolades from the American Library Association/YALSA, while another received a Children’s Choice Award from the International Literacy Association and Children’s Book Council. There were many other awards and achievements, too, as well as movie options, national book tours, school visits totaling tens of thousands of students, and so much more. Then time did what it does, and everything sort of . . . faded.
Until now.
Recently, Penguin Random House graciously reverted all rights back to me (thank you, Mallory!), and I’ve been obsessively laying the foundation to relaunch all 10 novels ever since. Things get a little confusing because there are still tens of thousands of copies of the original editions floating around in libraries and used bookstores. They feature the iconic yin/yang, human/animal cover art that your parents might recognize. As much as I appreciate those covers, it’s time to move on.
What you’re looking at here is a labor of love. I laid out every page, typeset every word. I also created new covers, personally drawing each character’s silhouette as I see them in my mind, and hiring a world-class designer to frame each silhouette in a setting worthy of each novel.
There is still work to be done. As a one-person operation, it’s going to take a while for me to re-record new audiobooks (with yours truly narrating), and to recreate new educator and parent discussion guides. Who knows, I may even write a new Five Ancestors novel—or three. For details, please subscribe to my occasional newsletter (below).
Thank you, again, for coming along for the ride! Please be patient as I breathe life back into these characters, one adventure at a time.
My Very Best,
Jeff Stone
November 2025