Cover Image: Ella Has A Plan

Ella Has A Plan

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Member Reviews

A brilliant children’s book focusing on family, overcoming disagreements, celebrating individuality and tolerance.

I was pleased to find a book with all black characters of all ages, something I think that is important for our children to read. I was startled to read an article on Davina Hamilton’s website were she shared that only 4% of children’s literature featured BAME characters (2017).

The rhythm and rhyme made this a pleasing read, with the pictures complimenting the story, focusing on the character interactions.

I would definitely recommend this to parents and primary school teachers.

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Ella Has a Plan is a picture book about a little girl Ella that is worried that her cousins will fight at an upcoming family get together. So she asks her mom and her great grandfather what to do. She comes up with a plan.

The illustrations in this book were sweet and appealing. The story itself was made up of rhyming couplets. Rhyming makes for fun read-alouds. I found the text to be a little too wordy and the story took too long. My son kept drifting away. I liked that the general lesson was about trying to solve problems.

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When a children's book follows a rhyme pattern, I really hope it is a good, seamless one. That speaks volumes about the effort and creativity that goes into the work. So Ella Has A Plan lives up to this assessment. It is a bit stretched and can be a bit confusing for a kid, but it would work as a good exercise to start your kid on a longer diet of books.
Overall, loved the diversity and inclusivity of the book.

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The story was interesting. I enjoyed the rhyming narrative and colourful illustrations. I liked Ella and her family.

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This sweet, gentle story follows Ella's efforts to stop her cousins from constantly bickering. If she is not successful, her mother's party might be ruined! Illustrations portray the families as being of African descent. Other stories follow youngsters from the same extended family.

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Ella Has a Plan is a charming story about a girl named Ella that can't wait to celebrate her mother's birthday with her family but is worried that the party will be ruined by her quarreling cousins Jade and Taye. She is determined to come up with a plan to ensure the party is a success. She receives encouragement from many family members along the way and eventually thinks of an ingenious scheme to bring everyone together.

Once I realized the book was written in couplet form, it read much smoother, but there are a few places where it feels a bit forced. The length of the story allows for the plot to drag in places. I wonder if cutting the sections hinting about how Great Granddad Frank tricked Grandad Glen and Aunt Glory would trim the story and allow for the plot to be more connected to the resolution.

The premise of the plot and the illustrations are the key elements of this book. Elena Reinoso captured the diversity of African American hairstyles in a way that I rarely see in children's books. The wall art also adds to the messages of self-love and joy that helps us understand why having harmony is so essential to Ella.

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I actually did. I think with a few tweaks to the length, and it could be a hit.

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I received an electronic ARC from The Ella Riley Group through NetGalley.
2.5 stars
Ella is excited for the whole family to come over and celebrate her mom's birthday but she dreads her two cousins coming as they always fight. Her mom tells her she has confidence in her abilities to solve the problem. Ella does figure it out and the party goes well.
Told in rhyme. Practice the rhyme scheme if you'll be reading out loud as it does not flow smoothly in a few places. The text is long on several pages as well and very small print.
The illustrations are cute and draw readers in.
The concept is great about problem solving but I feel the adults don't offer enough help and expect a child to solve the family dynamics on her own. I appreciate kids working together but the book reads like Ella has to do it by herself. She does come up with a plan that works, and she does get assistance from her uncle and encouragement from her mom.
The book works to talk about families with elementary level readers.

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Ella was looking forward to her mom's birthday celebration, but not necessarily fighting with her cousins. But her mom encourages her to be proactive and move forward with a plan. This is a sweet story that ended up with a colorful surprise at the end.
The choice of using was creative, but felt forced. Rhyming is very difficult. The length of the story also outweighed the plot within it. It dragged for a picture book. I appreciated the drawings and the emotions, and even the general premise of the plot. I feel as if it were at least half as short with regular prose over rhyme it could have been an outstanding book. I ultimately, I wanted to like it more than I actually did.

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The girls absolutely loved this book and I thought it had a great message. The download was a little wonky trying to read it, but it managed through. Definitely would love to add this one to our shelves! Thank you!

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Ella is worried about her mum's upcoming party. Her cousins are invited but they always end up arguing. So Ella devises a plan to stop them from falling out. Poetic text with lovely illustrations.

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Ella is super excited about her mom’s birthday celebration, but she’s less excited about the aruging her cousins always seem to do when the family gets together. Her mom suggests she get her great-grandfather to tell Ella how he managed to get his kids to get along. The party arrives, and Ella asks but with all the festivities, she gets sidetracked. She comes up with a plan on her own, though, to show her cousins about the things they share instead of theif differences. Her plan works, but as she’s getting into bed that night, she realizes she forgot all about the story and needs to hatch a new plan to find out what happened.

This book was cute and delightful. I loved the big family gathering, Ella’s creativity in getting her cousins to get along, and the artwork is on point. It teaches kids about the importance of celebrating differences instead of nitpicking them, and also about finding those qualities that we share in the face of all of our differences. I lvoed all the generations of family gathering, because there is so much wisdom to be shared among family members. The ultimate message of being kind is a really good one.

This one’s not out until October, so keep an eye out for it at your local bookstore or request a purchase from your library.

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I love books that rhyme, I love getting into the rhythm of reading them to my children, this one was a lovely rhyming one, however didnt think the story was amazing. I like the idea but it didnt grip me or make me laugh like childrens books usually do!

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Sweet story that teaches kids that they can solve problems creatively and think of solutions on their own.

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‘Ella Has A Plan’ is a charming and insightful children’s book that teaches children about the importance of family and working together.

The illustrations, characters and plot of this story all complimented each other very well. I loved how many members of Ella’s family we met and how each of them encouraged Ella’s creative thinking. The story tackles conflict resolution in such a fun and creative way, which is great for children. The story highlights that despite everyone being different, we all have our similarities too and that is what makes us so individualistic. I adored the focus on family tradition and relationships.

The rhyming made the book more fun to read and it is an element I think will appeal to children greatly. As a children’s book, it is a little on the longer side, but the rhyming element does help to balance out the length.

Overall, ‘Ella Has A Plan’ was a very sweet, very enjoyable read with stunning illustrations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and providing me with the opportunity to give my own, honest opinion

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I love love love the characters in this book. They exude just pure family love. The story itself is very heartwarming and helps the reader make connections with their own family. The only thing is the book is very text heavy - the rhymes are great, but because of the age of the protagonist, I feel like the book is geared toward a younger crowd that usually have shorter attention spans for read aloud. Overall, great book that really warms your heart.

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Ella has a Plan was such a sweet book and I loved that it teaches kids how to solve problems. I loved the rhyming throughout the book and think that it will be such a fun read for many children.

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'Ella Has A Plan' is a really sweet children's book that teaches agency in children and about the importance of family and harmony. I loved how many characters we got to meet and see and that Ella's family encouraged her to think creatively about how to find a solution to her problem. The text was a little awkward at times, but the message was fantastic. A great book for young children!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

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Told completely in rhyming couplets, this fun book tells the tale of how Ella managed to resolve a conflict between her cousins.

This is a great book that children are sure to love.

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Joyful book of big family bustle, helping and learning to make a good time, told in delightful rhyme, two stanzas per page, about 30 pages.

Wonderful! Can be read, or sung, or chanted as rap, lovely !

5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and to The Ella Riley Group for an ARC for review. Honest opinion given.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

A sweet simple story. I think the rhyming text will appeal to children and make it a joy to read aloud.

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