Review by J1598 -- Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi
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J1598
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- Latest Review: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi
Review by J1598 -- Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi
[Following is a volunteer review of "Diary of a Snoopy Cat" by R.F. Kristi.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The Diary Of A Snoopy Cat, book 5 of 7 from the Inca Cat Detective book series written by author R.F. Kristi and illustrated by Jorje Valle was a pleasant story. Kristi's work inside this children's book vividly places the reader inside an adventurous world of mystery and suspense that is narrated by Inca, a Siberian cat who longs to become a world famous detective. Inca keeps an account of all cases in her personal diary as they unfold. She is joined by her team of kitty co-detectives, a couple of brave dogs, and a hamster who all share the same purpose--to solve unsolvable cases! When the world of two of their beloved "humanoid" friends flip into chaos, Inca and her loyal team swings into action to solve the unsolvable, but can they restore balance into the lives of their beloved humanoids?
I love that the story's setting takes place in (from what I've read) Kensington, a place of an up-scale area of exquisite taste in London, England. There is an air of style noted in the author's tone and language that adds properness to the kitty characters, e.g. "What cheek asking for our help and insulting our friend! How dare he speak of Charlotte in such a manner?"(69). Read closely and you can hear that accent and feel the air of England, I love it!
I also loved the plot of cats being depicted as detectives which demonstrates the sharp-witted characteristics of the cat kingdom. What I liked most is how Kristi skillfully embeds these keen senses, aloof mannerisms, and playful habits of how a natural cat behaves to create a team of kitty detectives in a storyline! There was the added sense of dry humor throughout, as this is something that cannot be overlooked with the characteristics of cats, e.g. "Fromage, in his mind, was fighting a real live enemy and winning. WINNING BIG TIME, I may add" (64). The story makes way for chuckles for that reason, and for that to come from the aspect of a different culture makes it entertaining.
The love for animals (cats in particular) seeps from the fact that Kristi is obviously a lover of cats, and my guess is that she has lots of them which implies why there were plenty of characters making up Inca's team, including one hamster, Charlotte, who's role seemed to not take on much throughout the story. I developed a sense the author tried to squeeze in every pet from her real life into the fictional world of Inca, which manufactured what seemed to be an endless assembly line of characters making it difficult to keep up with who was who, and who did what, and that was the least of my likes for this book. For instance, the opening dragged endlessly in describing and introducing characters. Although Kristi wrote in these characters with balance, if you did not keep up you could easily lose a character's role or identity.
Another of my least-liked takes up with the illustrations which, in my opinion, gave no solid justice to the scenes. While I thought the illustrations were great, they lacked in providing full images to impact the story's action, thoughts expressed, and lacked in allowing readers to feel the emotions portrayed by the characters that are fed to readers only in text form. Where are the pictures to hallmark those wonderful features of the story? I would love to have seen fuller images.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars and would recommend this book for kids between the ages of 8 - 10, but to be used perhaps as a hi-low read because it's easy enough to be read like a book for younger readers but illustrates a mature air about it being that it lacks pictures that would draw in a younger age group. This may balance out better to give a feel to this age group that they are mature enough to take on chapter books. To add, because it is typical for younger readers to depend on pictures I do not recommend this book for ages 5 - 7 because having a lack of pictures may not hold a younger group's attention.
******
Diary of a Snoopy Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like J1598's review? Post a comment saying so!
3 out of 4 stars
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The Diary Of A Snoopy Cat, book 5 of 7 from the Inca Cat Detective book series written by author R.F. Kristi and illustrated by Jorje Valle was a pleasant story. Kristi's work inside this children's book vividly places the reader inside an adventurous world of mystery and suspense that is narrated by Inca, a Siberian cat who longs to become a world famous detective. Inca keeps an account of all cases in her personal diary as they unfold. She is joined by her team of kitty co-detectives, a couple of brave dogs, and a hamster who all share the same purpose--to solve unsolvable cases! When the world of two of their beloved "humanoid" friends flip into chaos, Inca and her loyal team swings into action to solve the unsolvable, but can they restore balance into the lives of their beloved humanoids?
I love that the story's setting takes place in (from what I've read) Kensington, a place of an up-scale area of exquisite taste in London, England. There is an air of style noted in the author's tone and language that adds properness to the kitty characters, e.g. "What cheek asking for our help and insulting our friend! How dare he speak of Charlotte in such a manner?"(69). Read closely and you can hear that accent and feel the air of England, I love it!
I also loved the plot of cats being depicted as detectives which demonstrates the sharp-witted characteristics of the cat kingdom. What I liked most is how Kristi skillfully embeds these keen senses, aloof mannerisms, and playful habits of how a natural cat behaves to create a team of kitty detectives in a storyline! There was the added sense of dry humor throughout, as this is something that cannot be overlooked with the characteristics of cats, e.g. "Fromage, in his mind, was fighting a real live enemy and winning. WINNING BIG TIME, I may add" (64). The story makes way for chuckles for that reason, and for that to come from the aspect of a different culture makes it entertaining.
The love for animals (cats in particular) seeps from the fact that Kristi is obviously a lover of cats, and my guess is that she has lots of them which implies why there were plenty of characters making up Inca's team, including one hamster, Charlotte, who's role seemed to not take on much throughout the story. I developed a sense the author tried to squeeze in every pet from her real life into the fictional world of Inca, which manufactured what seemed to be an endless assembly line of characters making it difficult to keep up with who was who, and who did what, and that was the least of my likes for this book. For instance, the opening dragged endlessly in describing and introducing characters. Although Kristi wrote in these characters with balance, if you did not keep up you could easily lose a character's role or identity.
Another of my least-liked takes up with the illustrations which, in my opinion, gave no solid justice to the scenes. While I thought the illustrations were great, they lacked in providing full images to impact the story's action, thoughts expressed, and lacked in allowing readers to feel the emotions portrayed by the characters that are fed to readers only in text form. Where are the pictures to hallmark those wonderful features of the story? I would love to have seen fuller images.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars and would recommend this book for kids between the ages of 8 - 10, but to be used perhaps as a hi-low read because it's easy enough to be read like a book for younger readers but illustrates a mature air about it being that it lacks pictures that would draw in a younger age group. This may balance out better to give a feel to this age group that they are mature enough to take on chapter books. To add, because it is typical for younger readers to depend on pictures I do not recommend this book for ages 5 - 7 because having a lack of pictures may not hold a younger group's attention.
******
Diary of a Snoopy Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like J1598's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi
