~ Thanks to NetGalley and Stories To Tell Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review ~

Oh boy, I feel so bad for not liking this book more, because I can see how much effort went into it, but I have to concede that it wasn't what I was hoping. "That's Coola, Tallulah!" is a book about a girl called Stella Bella and her best friend (who also happens to be a doll) Tallulah. Tallulah gives Stella Bella lots of tips to make play time even more fun than before, but her suggestions are rather impish, leading to both of them getting in trouble.
I'll get my favourite part out of the way first - those illustrations are amazing! They're soft and bright, and the characters have so much personality. Iacoponi's work really paid off here, and I'm hoping to see her future work.
The characters themselves were cute; it was nice seeing how the connection between girl and best friend/toy very much reflected the ways that an actual child cares for and interacts with their inanimate companions.
I'm a little confused about how the outcome of Stella Bella and Tallulah's actions was meant to come across to children. Obviously as an adult, it's easy to see the issues with their amusing shenaginans, and I think most kids would understand why those games got them in trouble too. That said, I do think that a little more explanation of why those behaviours were wrong and/or a visible redirection of both Stella Bella AND Tallulah's energy would have made the story more satisfying over all.
Finally, my biggest issue with this book was the language used in some parts. I'm not a huge fan of baby-talking to children, and occasionally the dialogue strayed there tonally and left me feeling like the audience was being patronised a little (regardless of intent). This won't be an issue for everyone, but it's what I personally found myself most conflicted over.
Chase brought me so much joy as a kid in her role as Angelica on the Rugrats, and I have no doubt that this book will bring other children a lot of happiness too. If the language doesn't put you off, then I don't see why this wouldn't be a good fit.

Summary
Recommended age range: 4-6
Pros: high quality illustrations; likeable characters; cute plot idea
Cons: didn't provide a satisfying resolution to the main events of the story; slightly condescending language in parts

This book is about a little girl named Stella Bella and her toy Tallulah. Throughout the book, Tallulah talks Stella Bella into doing things are not always correct. To draw on the walls, get more cookies and other things. Another toy talks to Tallulah about how it is not nice to try to talk Stella Bella into doing things that would get her into trouble. I just didn't like that it just ended and did not get around to show or say that you should not just listen to others, especially if you are going to get into trouble for doing something. The illustrations in the book or so precious. You can feel like you are right with each character.

For some reason, my netgalley shelf version book only had pictures but no words and my kindle version only had words but no pictures. Between the two of them, I got it squared away and this was a really cute book! The illustrations are adorable and the story itself is about a little girl and her doll getting into mischief together but learning from it. This is definitely a book that kids will like!