DIARY OF A SNOOPY CAT

The author sent a copy of her novel to my Children's Book Specialist, Pat Koelmel, to read and review:

Not only am I a lover of the hugely popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney, I am a lover of cats. So, I was thrilled at the prospect of reading R. F. Kristi’s Diary of a Snoopy Cat, volume 5 in the Inca (the cat) series. On top of all that, it’s a detective story, and who doesn’t like a good detective story? I couldn’t wait to get my paws on it.

The storyline itself is straightforward. It takes place in London and revolves around Inca, an aspiring feline detective about to embark on her second case with the help of her friends, an assortment of cats and dogs … and one hamster by the name of Charlotte. By the way, the author did a fine job developing unique personalities for each of the four-legged characters. Boys and girls will snicker at the entertaining kitty/doggie banter. There’s also some good bathroom humor, always a plus for kids.

With that said, I would have enjoyed the story far more had Inca’s case du jour started sooner. Given the book is 180 pages long, the plot should have unfolded well before page 62. But once things got going (on or about page 80), the next 50 or so pages were action-packed and exciting.

Also, while I like the author’s decision to break up the book using moments in time (e.g.: 11 days before Christmas, Monday morning) like a diary, the text doesn’t read like a diary at all. And there are way too many characters to keep track of between all the cats (4), dogs (3), and humans (12). And let’s not forget Charlotte the hamster.

As for the illustrations, the cover image in particular is nothing short of striking.

There’s one more thing worth mentioning: Age range is my first indicator as to whether a children’s book is a chapter book (for ages 7-10) or middle-grade novel (for ages 8-12). And since Ms. Kristi’s bio recommends her book for ages up to 12, I initially thought I was about to read a middle-grade novel. However, I soon discovered I was wrong. While it didn’t matter so much where I was concerned, buyers of books for young readers need to know the correct age range in order to make good choices.

In the end, I believe Diary of a Snoopy Cat delivers a fun read for the chapter-book set. I give it four meows.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: So what’s the difference between a chapter book and a middle-grade novel? Children’s author Marty Mokler Banks offers the following answer on her blog, chapterbookchat.wordpress.com:

“Emma D. Dryden, whose career in the publishing industry has included time as vice president, publisher of Atheneum Books for Young Readers and Margaret K. McElderry Books, explains that from a publisher’s standpoint, chapter books are those books geared towards readers between the ages of 7-10, and they will be formatted to lots of black-and-white illustrations, the chapters will be short, the type will be large, and there will be a nice amount of white space on the pages; the protagonists in chapter books are customarily about eight- or nine-years-old. Thus, chapter books invite the young reader in. They make a point not to intimidate"

“Conversely, Dryden says middle grade books are geared towards readers between the ages of 8-12, and they may or may not have illustrations, the chapters will be longer, the type will be of a more standard size, there will be less white space on the pages, and the protagonists in middle grade novels are customarily eleven- or twelve-years-old, which makes middle grade books slightly more mature, from format to content.”