Review by Sapadu -- Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoo...
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Sapadu
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Review by Sapadu -- Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoo...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat" by R.F. Kristi.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi is a children's mystery novella about a family of pet cats whom, while on vacation with their “mom” on a little island near India, discover that a local museum has lost an ancient, valuable sword and decide to “assist” in solving the case. Inca, the narrator and main character, is the oldest child and leads the investigation. Her siblings – Fromage, Cara, and the hamster Charlotte – all help her find clues, alongside Terrence the dog and his human, Solo, while they meet new friends in a turtle, a mother and daughter elephant pair, and some mischievous monkeys. By the end of their vacation, the stolen sword has been returned to the museum, the thieves have been captured, and Inca and her siblings have a nice dinner with Terrence, the humans, and their new friends.
On the one hand, this little novella is a good book for intermediate child readers – there's plenty of challenging words for young readers to push themselves, and the story and character experiences are structured in a way that it can be a good exercise in tracking what happened in each segment. The book starts with a little family tree, and a cast of the recurring characters (as this book is part of a series) which makes it easy to follow. In terms of structure, it benefits from being told as a diary – a lot of little, inconsequential details about the kitties being on vacation fit perfectly fine, such as spending the day at the beach, getting ice cream, or a ride on a train.
On the other, this is a very messy mystery story. The mystery itself is straightforward – some thieves stole something, and the characters need to get it back. However, virtually nothing in the story actually advances the plot of HOW Inca and her siblings go about SOLVING the mystery. While they ask their new friends on the island to tell them if they see anything, that's pretty much it. Much more time is spent on the cats doing... just stuff. Playing with their friends, getting lost, or things of that nature. There's no actual clues – a good mystery should at least offer clues and give the reader the chance to be able to figure it out, as they read along. Maybe that's why it's subtitled as “Diary of a Snoopy Cat” – the mystery isn't really the point and there's no actual detective work. Instead, it's the fact that the animals are little snoops that they see who the culprits are and get the humans to catch the villains.
Admittedly, my own standards for children's books (I've been told) are a little high – there's no real obligation for children's books to all be impeccable works of art and sometimes, you just need something that's simple and easy-to-digest in order for kids to learn to read... especially to read for their own enjoyment. Would I prefer if every children's book were excellent? Certainly. At the same time, it is a LOT harder than it looks to write a good children's book – we forget that kids are much smarter than adults pretend, but that also needs to be nurtured (as opposed to it coming naturally) and kids' literature needs variety in order to serve that purpose.
So, since this story is better seen as just a cute little story about some cats who go on holiday and just happen to catch some criminals (but not really solve a mystery) and the fact that it's more intended for children to cut their teeth on some more difficult reading styles, I'd give this a 3 out of 4 stars. I saw no real editing errors, though sometimes the spacing choices were unusual – especially when Inca would write lists of things in the middle of paragraphs. However, nothing looked as though it were a mistake in the editing department, and the stylistic choices stop me from being too harsh. If you just want something cute, relatively innocent, but just enough of a challenge for a child in the 5-10 years old range, this is perfectly harmless.
******
Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi is a children's mystery novella about a family of pet cats whom, while on vacation with their “mom” on a little island near India, discover that a local museum has lost an ancient, valuable sword and decide to “assist” in solving the case. Inca, the narrator and main character, is the oldest child and leads the investigation. Her siblings – Fromage, Cara, and the hamster Charlotte – all help her find clues, alongside Terrence the dog and his human, Solo, while they meet new friends in a turtle, a mother and daughter elephant pair, and some mischievous monkeys. By the end of their vacation, the stolen sword has been returned to the museum, the thieves have been captured, and Inca and her siblings have a nice dinner with Terrence, the humans, and their new friends.
On the one hand, this little novella is a good book for intermediate child readers – there's plenty of challenging words for young readers to push themselves, and the story and character experiences are structured in a way that it can be a good exercise in tracking what happened in each segment. The book starts with a little family tree, and a cast of the recurring characters (as this book is part of a series) which makes it easy to follow. In terms of structure, it benefits from being told as a diary – a lot of little, inconsequential details about the kitties being on vacation fit perfectly fine, such as spending the day at the beach, getting ice cream, or a ride on a train.
On the other, this is a very messy mystery story. The mystery itself is straightforward – some thieves stole something, and the characters need to get it back. However, virtually nothing in the story actually advances the plot of HOW Inca and her siblings go about SOLVING the mystery. While they ask their new friends on the island to tell them if they see anything, that's pretty much it. Much more time is spent on the cats doing... just stuff. Playing with their friends, getting lost, or things of that nature. There's no actual clues – a good mystery should at least offer clues and give the reader the chance to be able to figure it out, as they read along. Maybe that's why it's subtitled as “Diary of a Snoopy Cat” – the mystery isn't really the point and there's no actual detective work. Instead, it's the fact that the animals are little snoops that they see who the culprits are and get the humans to catch the villains.
Admittedly, my own standards for children's books (I've been told) are a little high – there's no real obligation for children's books to all be impeccable works of art and sometimes, you just need something that's simple and easy-to-digest in order for kids to learn to read... especially to read for their own enjoyment. Would I prefer if every children's book were excellent? Certainly. At the same time, it is a LOT harder than it looks to write a good children's book – we forget that kids are much smarter than adults pretend, but that also needs to be nurtured (as opposed to it coming naturally) and kids' literature needs variety in order to serve that purpose.
So, since this story is better seen as just a cute little story about some cats who go on holiday and just happen to catch some criminals (but not really solve a mystery) and the fact that it's more intended for children to cut their teeth on some more difficult reading styles, I'd give this a 3 out of 4 stars. I saw no real editing errors, though sometimes the spacing choices were unusual – especially when Inca would write lists of things in the middle of paragraphs. However, nothing looked as though it were a mistake in the editing department, and the stylistic choices stop me from being too harsh. If you just want something cute, relatively innocent, but just enough of a challenge for a child in the 5-10 years old range, this is perfectly harmless.
******
Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Sapadu's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi
