Review by jsparkleflower -- Diary of a Snoopy Cat

jsparkleflower · Post by **jsparkleflower** » 11 Mar 2018, 20:00

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

2 out of 4 stars

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Diary of a Snoopy Cat, written by R.F. Kristi, and illustrated by Jorve Valle, is a children’s book written in the format of a diary, from the perspective of a cat. The premise of this book is that the main character cat is part of a cat family detective agency that helps solve crimes that arise from their feline or even dog friends in the neighborhood. Regrettably, this was not a book I enjoyed. I was not impressed with the idea of a cat family being in charge of a detective agency, nor the idea of this being a diary written by the main character cat. I am an avid follower of children’s books, having two children myself. However, I doubt I would offer this book to them to read.

I was confused at the story as it was choppy and hard to follow with the letter formatting going from regular font sizes to larger fonts to express opinions from the leading cat character. I also was confused at times as to which animal characters belongs with which owners, or who the pet owners actually were; as the animal characters all had many of the same human characteristics as the humans in the story did. I was mixed up in the story at times as to what was happening, as there seemed to be multiple stories being brought in at times, or perhaps they were flashbacks to previous stories from the series, as I noticed there are several listed. Whether this was the case or not, it made the storyline a bit confusing for me.

What I like most about this story was the illustrations that matched many of the descriptions given in the book. They were cute and expressive and managed to bring to life a story that I thought was a bit frustrating to read.

What I like least about this story was the confusing writing. I also was not happy with the diary format. I have read other books with this format and have enjoyed them a bit more, but I found this was rather distracting to the whole idea of this story. I would have preferred a regular written story with a font that does not give me a headache as I read it.

I did manage to finish the entire book, although, perhaps not completely word for word as it was hard to follow the storyline at times. I was disappointed, as I am usually highly involved in children’s stories that are a bit silly and off key, something that I impress upon my own offspring with enthusiasm. This book gave me little to promote to my children. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars as I did struggle with the font changes in it and I was not enthused about the characters of cats being more like humans for main characters, somewhat disappointing. However, I did think the illustrations were well done.

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Diary of a Snoopy Cat
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rcarr13 · Post by **rcarr13** » 12 Mar 2018, 08:12

My kids and I love cats, but after reading your review we may skip this one. Thank you for your through review.

jsparkleflower · Post by **jsparkleflower** » 12 Mar 2018, 11:02

Feel free to peruse it and make up you own mind. I was not interested but perhaps you will have a different view.

JessNWheeler · Post by **JessNWheeler** » 14 Mar 2018, 20:33

My kids and I enjoyed this book too. It’s a fun and suspenseful fable. I appreciate the themes and lessons of determination and the importance of friendship. Great review!