Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye (Geronimo Stilton # 1)

Holey Cheese! Imported from Italy, this snazzy series debut about a globetrotting mouse journalist spreads the cheesy puns nice and thick. On an average day, Geronimo Stilton edits The Rodent's Gazette, the newspaper of New Mouse City, capital of Mouse Island. But at the coaxing of his sister, Thea, and various relatives, Stilton sates his yen for adventure-and adventure writing-by embarking on various excursions and recording and illustrating his exploits in a diary that serves as source material for his books. Stilton, Thea, cousin Trap and nephew Benjamin board a ship in search of buried treasure on a secret deserted island. The trip is filled with peril and plenty of humor, though the treasure isn't what anyone expected. The book's lightning pace and its numerous chapters, as well as a full-color design that displays key words in color type and fun fonts, will hook kids in a flash. And those with a taste for Stilton's breezy style will surely want to devour future "whisker-licking-good stories," as the author calls them. The first four book in the Geronimo Stilton series will be released simultaneously, followed by one book per month thereafter. Ages 7-10. (Feb.)

Copyright 2004 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Gr 2-4-Geronimo Stilton earns his bread and cheese as editor of The Rodent's Gazette, but his true joy is writing adventure yarns. As a globe-trotting newsmouse, he finds plenty of material for his tales-although his exploits never quite work out the way he anticipates. In Curse, Geronimo heads to Egypt to interview eccentric archaeologist Professor Spitfur. The professor claims that the pyramid of Cheops contains the ancient Egyptians' secret method for creating unlimited energy, but legend says the pharaoh's curse awaits anyone who enters the tomb. In the second title, a pirate map sends Geronimo and his intrepid companions from the Gazette on a voyage to find the Emerald Eye. Shipwrecked on the treasure island, the comrades follow the dangerous trail through traps and quicksand to locate the booty. Geronimo's adventures resemble old Saturday morning cartoons with broad humor, stock characters, frenetic action, and comic-book-style illustrations. Even the text is incorporated into the comic motif. Words and phrases are highlighted with a wild miscellany of type fonts, graphics, and colors-often several on a single page. They curve across the pages, slant up or down or twist into odd shapes. While this device is amusing at first, it quickly becomes overwhelming. Transitional readers may be attracted by the flashy design, but for a better-written and funnier adventures series, steer them to Jon Scieszka's "Time Warp Trio" (Viking) instead.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.