Review by Kate Park -- Cat Detectives in the Korean Peni...
Posted: 20 Oct 2020, 20:01
[Following is a volunteer review of "Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula" by R.F. Kristi.]
Inca and her group of animal friends, Cara, Terrance, and Fromage, have the opportunity to travel to South Korea. Their human mom has been chosen to participate as a judge in a French patisserie competition that is being coordinated by the prestigious French cookery school called ‘Le Cordon Bleu'. While there, Inca’s mom will also have the chance to debut her original cheese called ‘La Crème de la Crème’. The animals are overjoyed. But will the cheese be ok? What trouble awaits them in South Korea?
R. F. Kristi is the author of Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula. It is a children’s book sprinkled with intermittent illustrations. It will keep readers interested and excited, eager to turn the next page. It is the eighth in a series of nine books. Even without reading the other books in this series, I found I was able to understand who the characters were and keep up with the plot. The writing style of this book was nothing exceptional, but it was passable. This book was also well edited and only had a couple of possible errors.
Overall, my favorite part about this book by far was the plot. The author did a spectacular job of incorporating lots of excitement and suspense into the storyline while still keeping the book short and wrapping up all loose ends nicely. There were times in this book that I was scared about what would happen to the characters. The main characters also are cats and dogs, which adds a cute touch since these animals interact with their owners with lots of love and affection. These aspects create a wonderful children’s book that kids will be eager to read.
Although I did enjoy this book, there were a few things that did annoy me. I was very disappointed by the art in Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula. The illustrations were simple and not unique. The writing style was also a little unprofessional and not polished at times. Kristi would sometimes repeat almost the same sentence twice in a row, making the book repetitive and somewhat annoying. At the top of every page, the book alternated between displaying the author’s name and the title of the book. This distracted me at first since my eyes automatically go to the beginning of the page, and because the header was big enough, I would always find myself reading that line instead of the first line of the actual text. Another small source of annoyance in this book was the creative font that was chosen. Even though it was legible, some letters and numbers might confuse young readers. For example, the lowercase “c” looked a bit like it was uppercase. Although these complaints deal mostly with the publication of the book rather than Kristi’s writing, they did detract from my reading experience.
Because this book has such a fantastic and exciting plot and because I had no serious complaints, I can give this book 4 out of 4 stars with a clear conscience. Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula is a great book for kids transitioning between picture and chapter books. It is simple enough that they will be able to comprehend it, but exciting enough that they will continue reading. Not only was this book engaging, but it also presented lots of good vocabulary for younger children. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book to young kids looking for an accessible and appealing book. This book, containing cats with fluffy tails, cheese that creamy and delicious, and a desperate plan, will leave young readers glued to its pages.
******
Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Inca and her group of animal friends, Cara, Terrance, and Fromage, have the opportunity to travel to South Korea. Their human mom has been chosen to participate as a judge in a French patisserie competition that is being coordinated by the prestigious French cookery school called ‘Le Cordon Bleu'. While there, Inca’s mom will also have the chance to debut her original cheese called ‘La Crème de la Crème’. The animals are overjoyed. But will the cheese be ok? What trouble awaits them in South Korea?
R. F. Kristi is the author of Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula. It is a children’s book sprinkled with intermittent illustrations. It will keep readers interested and excited, eager to turn the next page. It is the eighth in a series of nine books. Even without reading the other books in this series, I found I was able to understand who the characters were and keep up with the plot. The writing style of this book was nothing exceptional, but it was passable. This book was also well edited and only had a couple of possible errors.
Overall, my favorite part about this book by far was the plot. The author did a spectacular job of incorporating lots of excitement and suspense into the storyline while still keeping the book short and wrapping up all loose ends nicely. There were times in this book that I was scared about what would happen to the characters. The main characters also are cats and dogs, which adds a cute touch since these animals interact with their owners with lots of love and affection. These aspects create a wonderful children’s book that kids will be eager to read.
Although I did enjoy this book, there were a few things that did annoy me. I was very disappointed by the art in Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula. The illustrations were simple and not unique. The writing style was also a little unprofessional and not polished at times. Kristi would sometimes repeat almost the same sentence twice in a row, making the book repetitive and somewhat annoying. At the top of every page, the book alternated between displaying the author’s name and the title of the book. This distracted me at first since my eyes automatically go to the beginning of the page, and because the header was big enough, I would always find myself reading that line instead of the first line of the actual text. Another small source of annoyance in this book was the creative font that was chosen. Even though it was legible, some letters and numbers might confuse young readers. For example, the lowercase “c” looked a bit like it was uppercase. Although these complaints deal mostly with the publication of the book rather than Kristi’s writing, they did detract from my reading experience.
Because this book has such a fantastic and exciting plot and because I had no serious complaints, I can give this book 4 out of 4 stars with a clear conscience. Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula is a great book for kids transitioning between picture and chapter books. It is simple enough that they will be able to comprehend it, but exciting enough that they will continue reading. Not only was this book engaging, but it also presented lots of good vocabulary for younger children. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book to young kids looking for an accessible and appealing book. This book, containing cats with fluffy tails, cheese that creamy and delicious, and a desperate plan, will leave young readers glued to its pages.
******
Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon