Lissy’s Diary - Ellen DeLange - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR: Ellen DeLange
ILLUSTRATOR: Ilaria Zanellato
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2021
RATING: 3.75 stars.

Quite a cute book, but I am not sure of the extent to which it will be “re-readable”.

It’s Lissy’s Grandma’s birthday and Lissy is spending this special day with her. As the gift package she has brought her grandma contains a diary, Lissy wonders what a diary is and how it can be used. Grandma takes out some of her old diaries and shares a few memorable incidents of her younger years with her granddaughter. Quite impressed and motivated, Lissy decides to keep a diary of her own.

Some of Lissy’s grandma’s adventures are interesting. Beyond that, there’s not much to this story except for how sweet it is. The close relationship between Lissy and her grandma is very touching.

The language used is quite simple. I liked how the font changes from a basic sans serif in the story to mild cursive in the diary entries. The change in style creates a nice visual contrast.

The illustrations are quite nice and reminiscent of old Russian storybooks. These are the best part of the book.

The book would work well if you want your child to spend some time writing in their diary. Same applies to teachers who want to introduce the concept of personal journals to their children.

My thanks to Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of “Lissy's Diary”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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