4 out of 4 stars
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Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R. F. Kristi is a fictional children’s storybook about the life of Inca, her family, and the people and pets around her. This is book five in the Inca Book Series. She is a Siberian kitty with a dream to be a world-class detective.
The book begins with an explanation of the family tree, whose members are the main characters in the story. We are introduced to her siblings, who are fellow pets.They are Cara, Fromage, and Charlotte. Cara is a prim and proper Siamese kitty, the apple of her mother’s eye, Fromage is an accident-prone, cheese-loving Tabby-cat and Charlotte is an intelligent Roborovski Dwarf Hamster. Then there are the humans, Missy, their Mom, and Aunt Florence, who is Missy’s aunt. Inca views herself as the leader in their little family.
We later meet her friends; Monk, a Blue Russian cat, Polo, a tiny Pekinese doggie and Terrance. Terrance is a Golden retriever who is trained in Canine Search and Rescue. He is a famous dog detective who helps in cases with his owner, Solo, and Hobbs, his assistant.
Inca’s chance to make a name for herself as a world-class detective comes when Raoul, Polo’s master goes missing in the far East, and the resident detectives, Terrance and Solo go to The Himalayas to bring him back. So, when Boss, a Rottweiler who lives down the street presents them with an urgent case, Inca, her siblings, and Monk are left to do the sleuthing after initial reluctance, as anyone would expect when cats are faced with a large, vicious dog. They manage to solve the mystery, save Boss’ home and restore his master’s happiness, all in time for Christmas.
This book is well written, with no plot holes or grammatical errors that I could find. The author was very imaginative and incorporated the right amount of personification, making the whole story more lively and interesting. An example that I loved is their ability to plan for the cold weather and dress appropriately so as not to get frostbite. The author has brought different dynamics to the story, giving it texture and different layers. This makes it not just a single story but several accounts that are eventually brought together to be one seamless piece.
I love the vibrant nature of the book and the different personalities of each character in the book. The way the pets interact with each other and the way the different story threads are brought together. I also really like how the characters of the animals reflect the traits of each animal, for example, Polo and Boss are typical representatives of their species. Also, we see the tentative unity between the cats and dogs, and how the cats overcome their natural dislike of dogs.
I also really loved the use of illustrations. They sank home the message being passed across. Though the words painted a clear picture of the events that unfolded, the images made it even more vivid in the reader’s mind. The illustrations capture the exact expression that the author was making with her words, and the words and images are so seamlessly weaved together that it is impressive to know they were done by two different people. It is funny without being silly and though it is a children’s book, I truly enjoyed reading it. It calls to mind Animal Farm but is packed with more humor and intended for a younger age group.
There were a few things I believe could have been done better. The relationship between the humans and the pets was not exploited to its full potential and there was a lack of proper punctuation in a few places. However, this did not detract from the great quality of the book, and for this reason, I rated it 4 out of 4 stars.
I recommend this book to young children who love adventure and animal stories. It is a great read and is almost guaranteed to be exciting to the children who read it.
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Diary of a Snoopy Cat
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