Review by timd -- Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy...

[timd]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat" by R.F. Kristi.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Inca is a beautiful Siberian cat with big eyes who shares a human mother with her brother and sister, as well as a hamster. Together with two dogs who belong to another human, they live in peace and harmony but also manage to get involved in situations where they help humans who have had problems with criminals.

Although this may sound strange, this has happened before, and Inca considers herself as the head of her own detective agency whose reputation is known all over London and has even spread as far afield as France. When her human mother announces that they will be going away on holiday to Sri Lanka, all of them look forward to it as another adventure.

The island and the beach are everything that she expected, and they all get to meet new and strange animals. However, their peaceful holiday does not last long when they hear about the theft of a priceless old sword and a collection of ancient gold coins from the museum.

It takes all of Incas skills as an amateur sleuth, as well as the unique abilities of her new animal friends to solve the mystery of the missing artifacts and arrange for the culprits to be caught. All of this adventure takes place in a strange jungle where there are creatures such as a python and a leopard with her little cubs, to further complicate matters.

Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R. F. Kristi is a book for children. It is the seventh book in the series, Queen of Kitties: Inca, the Siberian Detective Cat.

Written in the first-person narrative, from Inca's perspective, the story is beautifully written. One can almost hear the cat-like, purring voice of Inca, as she tells the story of her adventures. It is both amusing but also, enlightening to hear about other animals as well as humans, from the perspective of a cat. Similar to many classic animal fantasies, the humans seem to dwell in a distant world in the story, and only to interact with the animals in order to provide food and to organize things like the traveling arrangements.

The book is beautifully illustrated, and the story also contains many interesting facts and snippets of information. Together with the pictures, it is certain to encourage a love of reading, but also to create an awareness of animals as sentient creatures as well. However, I also think that being set in Sri Lanka, the leopard in the jungle should actually have been a tiger!

Through the magic of reading, this book will open up a whole new portal of adventure and appreciation of the world, and of animals, in the mind of the child who reads it. As an adult, I enjoyed the adventure, and the pictures are colorful and dramatic as well. Together with the amusing writing, this manages to be highly entertaining and is guaranteed to become a firm favorite of children that will be read over a number of times. I believe that this compares with the classic book, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham.

The book is very well written, and I found no faults regarding spelling, punctuation or grammar. There are also absolutely no issues regarding graphic scenes or issues of a controversial religious aspect. Parents who are fond of animals will particularly enjoy this book. Perhaps the only minor issue is that it is likely to be so appreciated that the whole of the rest of the series will also have to be purchased! I have awarded this book a rating of four stars out of four.

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Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Josephe-Anne]

I love animals!

So, I find the concept of a cat detective both adorable and hilarious. Your comment about how you thought the leopard should have been a tiger was interesting. I looked it up, and I found out that there really are leopards native to Sri Lanka! So, I learned something new today.

Thank you for a very thoughtful review!