Geronimo Stilton #1: The Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye [Paperback]

When I was about four years old, I couldn't get enough of stories about lost and buried treasures, treasure maps, and daunting adventures to follow such maps. Naturally, I had to rely on someone to read those stories to me. When I was older, I graduated to reading the stories myself and eventually found books such as Treasure Island and She. Later, I began to read about real-life adventures in exotic locales. As a teenager, a local radio station buried a "treasure" and teased us with clues for months; I joined my friends in digging on vacant desert land in all directions. It was great fun.

Ever since then, I've wondered how I could find a book to start my grandchildren, grand nephews and nieces, and other favored children with to help them develop the same appetite. I mention that desire because I never quite found the right book for my children when they were growing up.

The Geronimo Stilton series is off to a grand start in Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye. It has all of the elements that anyone could want: lost treasure, a mysterious treasure map, a treasure island, and the need to sail to get there. To make the story more appealing, we have a mouse family with interesting quirks that reminded me of the many Uncle Scrooge comics I loved as a child that involved looking for lost treasure in obscure locales while Donald Duck did the heavy lifting.

Geronimo Stilton is a mouse designed to please anyone. He has all the personality that Mickey Mouse (that venerable Disney icon) lacks. He's the serious responsible one (the correspondent to Uncle Scrooge). His sister Thea is the intuitive one, encouraging everyone forward. Trap is the hopeless relative who manages to be more helpful than anyone expects (including Trap).

The drawings are very imaginative, drawn in rich warm colors that make you want to spend time with them. The book has lots of background illustrations about Mouse Island and New Mouse City to help youngsters get into the mood.

The typography is brilliant. Words are reproduced to reflect what they mean. "Rocking back and forth" at sea is represented as a sine wave like a roller coaster, for instance. How can any youngster not want to know what those words mean and then quickly memorize them?

The later books in the series have more educational content than this one, but they are certainly no more fun.

Start with this book, and I predict you'll want to read the whole series!

Kindle version is practically images of the pages from the book. On Kindle device I cannot zoom (change font). On iPad I am able to zoom, but the pages are pixelated, and letters are not sharp.

This review consists of 2 parts: 1. My daughter's review (she's 9) and 2. My review (I'm the Mom). These are excerpts. For the full reviews, please visit our website.

DAUGHTER SAYS:

What I liked and disliked about it:

I liked this book because it's funny and the story is good. I like stories that have mysteries and adventures like this one does. It was really cool that there was a treasure map. If I found a treasure map, I would try to find it - especially if it's a big jewel like a ruby or diamond and I would ask all of my friends, my little brother, my Mom, and my Dad to help me find it.

Trap and Thea are funny when they call Geronimo by everything but his name, like "Geronimiss", "Geronimouse", "Gerrymug", and "Geronimeister". It really seems to bother him.

I liked the way the book ended because the treasure they discovered was a big surprise.

I didn't like that there is writing and pictures over some of the words because I didn't know which ones were part of the story and where they were in the sentence. It made it harder to read.

My bottom line:

I loved this book and would recommend it to girls my age and younger and boys who are younger than me.

MOM SAYS:

What I liked and disliked about it:

For years, I saw the Geronimo Stilton books in the Scholastic book order forms at our school and I was always curious about them. My daughter was never interested in them; but nonetheless, my curiosity got the best of me when I recently found myself perusing the shelves at a local bookstore. I picked up the Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye for my daughter on a whim, curious about what made this book series so popular. Curiosity...satisfied.

Both my daughter and I were surprised at how delightful this book was. The characters are all quirky and interesting. The setting of the book, New Mouse City, is a clever parody of New York City. In fact, the parodies (more obvious to grown-ups, and most likely not picked up at all by children) abound. For example, there is reference to a Rat La Lanne gym membership (a nod to Jack La Lanne) and a television show called X-Mouse (ok, that could be X-Men or the X-Files - take your pick!). Even the mouse "swearing" (e.g., `Slimy Swiss Balls') is amusing.

Another thing I really liked was that, before we dive into the story, there is a little blurb with a photo introducing each character as well as images of the entire editorial staff of the Rodent Gazette. Also, at the back of the book, there are maps of New Mouse City and Mouse Island with all of the relevant landmarks. I can really appreciate these extra touches.

This book relies heavily on graphics which are clearly intended to enhance the reader experience. For example, the word `green' is in a different font style and color (i.e., green); the word `idea' has a light bulb for an `i'; and the words `I took the stairs two at a time' are staggered as steps. Some of the pages are filled with graphics. (For examples, please visit our website).

On the one hand, the pages are very dynamic and eye-catching. For younger children who still like images to accompany a story, this will probably add to the enjoyment of the book. On the other hand, it is extremely distracting and this is the experience that my daughter had. In fact, I would say that it was distracting to the point that by the end of the book, you realize that the story itself is a bit weak, but the images, play on words, and funny dialogue among the characters are really what carry the book and make it entertaining.

My bottom line:

I found this series to be quite good. The plot itself is a bit weak, but the characters are entertaining. I could go either way with the heavy use of graphics - I think it would be appropriate for younger children just getting used to sitting through longer books. I think it's a great read-aloud book, but I don't think it's quite challenging enough for more established independent readers. I would recommend this series to boys and girls aged 6 to 9.