Ella Diaries #1: Double Dare You product reviews

My Miss Eight and Miss Seven really enjoy the Ella and Olivia books and this is a fantastic spin off. Ella writes her diary and this is so well written it is absolutely absorbing.

Double Dare You begins with Ella about to start her new year at school and writing in her diary. The book is written and illustrated in black and red with lovely little illustrations that are exactly as though they would be written in a diary.

The writing is written as it would be with handwriting so this book feels very authentic. My Miss Eight loved it and has now restarted writing her own diary so I love that this has reignited her interest in expressing herself. Ella's diary is brilliant. I love how she describes what is going on and what has happened in her day and it is very realistic. Ella is very brave in how she stands up for herself and takes a stand for someone in a situation that could have meant she became a bully. Negotiating the path of friendship is hard at school and I really like how Ella manages this. I felt like this book set a very good example for my own girls and is definitely a book that I am happy for them to read. I can definitely recommend this and Miss Eight and I are looking forward to reading the next book in the series Ballet Backflip.

We have been reading along with Ella since the Ella and Olivia books. Those books are great entry-level new reader books because the sentences are short and sweet and the language is simple enough to follow. So when I saw this book I knew it would be a hit with my daughter. She was excited to see a book about Ella by herself. As an older sister, she identifies with Ella quite a bit.

This book is a higher level of reading difficulty so they are a great follow on for kids who enjoyed the Ella and Olivia series. Ella's diary is set out like a diary with lots of visual doodles. I can not praise high enough the FONT they use. I was blown away to see A's printed as children are shown how to write them in school. Finally font that should be pretty easy for kids to read.

The subject matter in this book really spoke to my kid too. She is at school, in middle school now - so no longer a junior. She has seen friends in lasses come and go, and she knows what it is like to get a whole new teacher. So this start of the school year story was really well timed. She also knows a bit about bullying behaviour.

So as we read this book she commented on the behaviour of Peach. She was a bit upset with Ella at points too especially when she is a bit mean about her sister and brother. I think because my daughter really liked Olivia in the other books. She doesn't really feature in these books except as an annoyance breaking the story up as she comes into Ella's room.

This book comes with a sneak peek of the next book inside the back and also some activities that your child can do outside of the story. These activities are a great match to the book because they are things that Ella does or talks about in the book. This was a really neat read, and we can't wait to try more in this new series.