The Geronimo Stilton Book Series

My almost 6-year-old son is a "boy's boy." He doesn't want to take the time to read or do "any of that learning stuff..." because he would much rather be fighting the bad guys with the force, or crashing his cars into each other.

Imagine my surprise, and my pleasure, when he started showing a huge interest in the Geronimo Stilton books. It started slowly when we would listen to them in the car. My son would be laughing as he heard the antics happening in each adventure.

For those who don't know, the supposed "author" of these books is Geronimo Stilton himself. He is a self-proclaimed literate, mild-mannered, and shy mouse, the editor-in-chief of the Rodent's Gazette (the most famous newspaper on Mouse Island), and a real cheese aficionado.

The other main characters of these books include, Thea, his sister, Trap, his cousin who likes to play jokes on Geronimo and tends to get him in a lot of trouble, and Jonathan, Geronimo's favorite nephew, a 9-year-old precocious young mouse who is quite fond of Uncle Geronimo.

In his books, Geronimo regales us with one of his adventures, with dry humor and a self-deprecation that is charming. We see that although he is well known for being cowardly, when he absolutely has to, he finds the courage to work through the difficulties he faces. But, not until Trap teases him about his cowardice, Thea talks him into doing something he should know better than to get involved with, and Jonathan, his supportive nephew, helps him figure out what is really happening.

Each book is written to appeal to kids. On any page you see numerous fonts, action words, and cute animations to get your child involved in the plot. The author also has fun with word usage. He takes common words and items and changes them so that it could have come from a mouse. So we talk about happenings in New Mouse City, or Geronimo will look up information in his favorite Encyclopedia Rattanica, or he will discuss the famous battle at Raterloo.

The stories are humorous, which keeps the adults happy; action-filled, for the kid in each of us; and intelligently written. My son reads or listens to these stories over and over several times, each time laughing out loud at Geronimo's foibles.

Published by Scholastic, the Geronimo Stilton books are loved by many. Even Scholastic itself gets on the bandwagon, publishing issues of the Rodent's Gazette on its web site.¹

So, if you have a child, boy or girl, who is resistant to reading, I strongly suggest that you introduce this series into your household. Soon thereafter the sounds of laughter will be ringing through the hallway. You truly won't be sorry.

¹http://www.scholastic.com/titles/geronimostilton/index.htm