This was a charming and insightful picture book about a girl helping her family get along.

The illustrations, characters, and plot of this story all work well together. It also offers great conflict resolutions skills for children, reminding them that despite our differences we are also similar. I particularly appreciated the focus on family tradition and relationships. At times the rhyming interrupts the story slightly, but on the whole it is well done.

Overall a great addition to a picture book collection, particularly because of the peacemaking focus it takes.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ella has a plan to have her cousins get along. This was such a good book that left me wanting more. I really want to know Great Grandad Frank's trick! Maybe the perfect opportunity for a sequel.

"Ella Has A Plan" by Davina Hamilton is a children's book telling the story of Ella and how she plans on solving conflict between two of her cousins. The story opens with our main character, Ella telling her Mom how worried she is about her two cousins that always fight when they are together. A longer story ensues about how the cousins come over for a family party, and Ella along with various family members teach the two cousins about how similar they are to prevent fighting.

The story felt a little long to me as a reader. The content and the rhyming format suggested a book that would be geared towards a younger audience around 4-5 years old. However, the book seemed to drag on a bit and was longer than necessary. The story also felt a bit choppy in the middle portion. The reader expects to hear a story within the story and then nothing is delivered. It seemed a little off balance and odd.

Overall it was a cute idea for a story, but not the best delivery. It would need to be shortened and more concise in order to be read more easily.

Ella doesn't like her cousins fighting and she especially doesn't want them to do it during her mother's birthday party. But how can she stop them?

The Ella Riley Group and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published on May 14th.

Her mother tells her her Grandfather stopped his kids from fighting but before she can find out what he did, the cousins are there fighting. She tries to stop them but they won't listen to her.

So she comes up with a new plan and gets her uncle to help. That plan works and her mother is proud of her.

Can you guess what her plan was?

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own - and well - that of my 5 year old daughters'.

Ella has a plan tells the story of Ella, who has to come up with a plan to keep her cousins from arguing with each other. Her plan helped her cousins to see that although they are different, they can have things in common too.

Ella has a plan was a great book. It was fun to read - especially since it was a rhyming book! The pictures were fun and colourful and my daughter enjoyed pointing out Ella in each picture.

She told me afterwards that the story was a bit long. However, the fact that she didn't stop me from reading the book, tells me that she really enjoyed it, regardless of it being long. She enjoyed the whole story from beginning to end.

I would highly recommend this book for young children.

This is a delightful story about a kind young girl who identifies a recurring problem and wants to solve it. The rhyming story carries the reader along at a steady pace and there is sufficient depth to read and re-read. It could become a family favourite. Not all the questions are answered, lending scope for reader engagement. The illustrations capture a vibrant family life that is perfect in its imperfections. Although the illustrative style is quite particular, there is sufficient detail to afford each character their own identity. The limited colour palette and clean illustrative lines provide a clear backdrop for the text which looks quite dense on the page. The simplicity of the text makes it easily readable however. There is warmth, urgency, growth and each family member is named. This is a lovely book for young readers who, listening, will pick up on the cadence of the language and will be helped by the rhyme and rhythm of the spoken word in their journey to becoming readers of a familiar text for themselves..

This is a beautiful book about friendship, culture and heritage.
The book is written in rhyming couplets, and so would make an excellent resource for teaching rhyme, rhythm and narrative poems. It engages with themes such as: culture, heritage, kindness and learning how to deal with situations in a very child friendly and charming way. A lovely picture book.

I loved the illustrations in this book, and I liked the rhyming nature of it. However, I do think there are a lot of words, which would make it difficult for me as an educator to use with an entire classroom. Students tend to get a little stir crazy when it takes a bit longer to turn the page. I also am not sure how I could make it work into my own curriculum as a school counselor. I could see, though, sharing this with students one-on-one who may be having issues with conflict resolution or who are frustrated with their friends.

Overall, I think this is a cute story, but it may not be best for my needs as an educator.

Thankyou Netgalley for giving me an opportunity to read this story!

I am glad that I have read this book.This book teaches you the value of family and kindness.It is quite intriguing that we don't get such themes in books which are most important for nurturing children.

I had a great time reading this

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

We have enjoyed this book. The story was cute and family centered. I like that it focuses on being kind. We need all the kindness in the world right now. The rhyming words was fun too and it will be a great way for kids to learn.

This story was brilliantly detailed and thought through. I enjoyed that it rhymed and thought the story it’s self was very engaging. It’s more for an older child as it’s quite long but has a great message.

Thank you Netgalley and The Ella Riley Group for this advanced ebook of Ella Has A Plan.

I read this book with my 8 & 4 year old daughters. My oldest loved the prank that Ella was able to pull off from her plan. The illustrations were great and the main character is very vibrant and great to root for! It was a quick, entertaining read and the way it ended sets it up perfectly for another Ella story.

In Ella Has a Plan, Ella is worried about her cousins who are always fighting and being rude when they play. She talks to her Mom about how to make a plan to avoid this. The solution? Play a big prank.

The illustrations are soft, bright and sweet. I think they fit the story really well.

I don't think this is the best solution to the problem, but it is an amazing one. If an older group of young readers picks this book up, I think they will find it amusing. But, this book is for a younger audience. This doesn't seem like it'd be a great message to tell them. There would have to be some type of discussion with kids after because playing pranks on mean people doesn't solve any problem.

Overall, I think this book can be fun if read in the right context.

Two out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley

I truly loved the illustrations in this book. But this book was not for me. I think the fact that the book was long and rhymed the entire way through threw me off a bit. The plot of the story could use more connectivity from beginning to end. I am unsure I would be able to read this book to my students and keep their attention. If I were to recommend this book it would be to the school counselor for some SEL work on how to solve a problem.

This is the second book I've enjoyed by this team of writer Hamilton, and artist Reinoso. Told poetically, this story features Ella, who has a problem in that cousins Taye and Jade just do not seem to be able to get along. The last thing Ella wanted was to have her mom's big day spoiled. She consulted mom about it and mom referred her to great grandad Frank, who had a similar problem many years before and solved it in a highly original manner.

Before she can learn what that solution was, Ella finds herself having to quickly come up with one of her own, which she does, and it works a treat I love a story with a strong female character. Young Adult authors could learn a lot from reading this book! LOL! I commend this for a fun story, sweet text, and engaging illustrations.

Ella Has A Plan is about how Ella comes up with a plan to get her cousins to realize they are similar in some ways and should stick fighting. Some of the rhymes were hard to follow, the rhythm was a bit off, but it was still enjoyable.

I was happy to get the themes of problem solving and conflict management. I loved the beginning and end, but it just gets merky in the middle of trying to tell the story and provide the moral of it.

I enjoyed the illustrations and thought they were perfect for the book. Thank you Net Galley and The Ella Riley Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations are absolutely adorable and attractive for young readers. Unfortunately, there isn't much action in the story. The illustrations generally feature people talking while standing or sitting, which isn't so interesting. The story is unfocused and lacking action. Occasionally the rhyming scheme is off, and that can be a little distracting. I would suggest a rewrite that tightens up the story into something clear and easy for young readers to digest.

This is a good book for kids, as it centers around Ella trying to stop her cousins from bickering and fighting. It's great for teaching problem solving skills. The writing is what you might expect from a kid's book, rather simple, but I was impressed by the consistent rhyming throughout the book. It seems like it would be great to read aloud at storytime or for kids starting to learn how to read.

The illustrations are beautiful and add more excitement to the story.

Overall, a nice, fun book for kids.

The story didn't really make sense and was kinda pointless. No great lesson or feel-good storyline. Nice rhymes and illustrations though.

Ella Has A Plan by Davina Hamilton is a wonderful book about Ella and her problem solving with kindness in order to get her cousins to stop arguing. The illustrations are beautiful, and the rhyming is cute. The amount of text is a tad long for the story, and I feel it could be a bit more concise. The message is great - kindness, curiosity, patience, problem solving. Overall it's a fun story for all ages with an uplifting moral.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Ella Riley Group for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.