The press package for the adventures of Geronimo Stilton is truly impressive. It included the first four books of what Scholastic intends to be a monthly series, a copy of The Rodent's Gazette, where Geronimo is the editor, numerous press releases by GS, and a little poster showing all of the 33 major players in the series.
There's a little bit of real information about the series as well. It seems to have originated in Italy, and Scholastic is obviously hoping it does as well here as it has in the 180 other countries (and 30 languages) in which it has already appeared.
In the first adventure Geronimo, who complains quite a lot, and is a reluctant hero, is enlisted by his sister, Thea, to go off on a treasure hunt to a mysterious island. Their adventures on sea and land are a chronicle of disaster and quite a bit of fun. Naturally,things do not work out quite the way they had hoped.
These are chapter books for younger readers. They are liberally illustrated, but not in the usual fashion. The text uses a lot of typographical tricks to enliven the narrative and there are illustrations of some sort on just about every page,
Young fans will enjoy the maps, the cutaway layouts of important buildings, and the illusion of visiting the land of Mouse Island, with all its cheesy place names and eccentric inhabitants.
The other three books in the package were The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid, Cat and Mouse in a Haunted House, and I'm Too fond of my Fur. There are many more to come.