Review by Love_Good_Books -- Diary of a Snoopy Cat

[Love_Good_Books]

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

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3 out of 4 stars

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Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi is a delightful mystery written for the 8- to 12-year-old set. At 185 pages with illustrations, this is an excellent book for confident readers. It would also make a fabulous serial read-aloud selection. Diary of a Snoopy Cat is part of the Inca series, which currently includes five titles. I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

Diary of a Snoopy Cat recounts the adventures of Inca, a Siberian kitty, and her friends and family as they solve not one but two mysteries during the Christmas season. The plot lightly touches on the topics of compassion, loyalty, bravery, humility, and forgiveness. For elementary readers, R.F. Kristi’s writing is a wonderful vocabulary builder, teaching words such as “treble,” "serviette," and "par excellence.”

My favorite part of this book is the wholesome, absorbing storyline; even in children’s literature, it can be difficult to find books with squeaky-clean plot and language combined with appealing story arcs. Running a close second for my favorite aspect of the book is the droll British voice. The narrative offers many opportunities for a read-aloud leader to incorporate amusing voices. The characters, particularly the animals, are well developed and endearing. I enjoyed reading this book immensely and recommend it highly.

The one aspect which detracted from the book was the large number of typos (primarily punctuation errors, especially of the comma variety, and formatting errors). A thorough proofreading edit will make this book shine. Additionally, I was a tad bit disappointed in the illustrations. Since the book is intended for children, full-color illustrations might be an improvement. However, the black-and-white drawings are quite good and do add to the story. The illustration for Monk the cat looking in the window is especially funny.

Because of the typos, I cannot give this book four stars. However, since the typos are really my only significant complaint, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. If fractional ratings were possible, I would rate this book 3.8 stars. The story itself is certainly worth four stars. This was quite a fun read because of its whimsical, humorous, and delightfully refreshing nature. Anyone of any age who likes engaging stories devoid of crude language and "adult" situations will relish this book. Preschool children will definitely enjoy this as a read aloud or as a skit, and the story arc is complicated enough to hold the interest of adults as well. Those who do not enjoy children’s books are not likely to appreciate this book.

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Diary of a Snoopy Cat
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[PaigeA]

I also loved the voice! I never recognized it as "the droll British voice" but that's a great way to describe it.

[PaigeA]

I was also disappointed in the illustrations.