Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This graphic novel series for young readers, originally written in Italian, has been translated into multiple languages and is now appearing for the first time in the U.S. The series pits an adventurous family of mice against a group of malevolent pirate cats who travel through time, threatening to change the course of history. The first two books, released simultaneously, successfully walk the line between education and entertainment, elaborating on Christopher Columbus’s journey in <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Discovery of America and on ancient Egypt in the companion <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Secret of the Sphinx. The characters are likable, the writing energetic and the drawings busily engaging. There’s also plenty of humor in the stories, and characters with names like Minestrone and Macaroni Mousaroni are sure to draw a smile from readers. The adventures of the Stilton family vs. the pirate cats offer laughs and adventure, and do a fine job of creating a world that children will want to enter again and again. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Geronimo Stilton promises good reading for youngsters and will appeal to teachers, librarians and parents for its educational component. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Aug.)

Kirkus Reviews

The screamingly popular chapter-book series about a timorous mouse who nevertheless gets drawn into adventure after adventure makes its U.N.EWSLUGS debut in graphic form. beginning of this original tale, Geronimo Stilton learns that the Pirate Cats are in 1492, intent on taking over Columbus's expedition and snatching the New World's riches for themselves. Geronimo's family leaps at the chance for excitement, and off they go. The series adapts well enough to graphic storytelling, although the panels are quite small, with the action squeezed into 56 full-color pages. The characters have a bland, Disneyesque look that nevertheless has undeniable child appeal. One visual glitch is that the Pirate Cats mouse disguises work so well they fool both the good guys and readers—clothing cues help but don't go all the way. Actual history (presented in occasional interstitial faux-scroll sidebars) and such niceties as time-travel paradoxes take a back seat to action and slapstick, resulting in a good-fun package that's sure to be as popular as the novels. This publishes simultaneously with # 2, The Secret of the Sphinx (ISBN: 978-1-59707-159-8). (Graphic fiction. 6-10)

ALA Booklist (Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

The Geronimo Stilton series of fiction for young readers incorporated rebus-type pictures throughout the text of the books; now Papercutz offers a series of graphic novels featuring the intrepid mouse journalist hero of those books. In this first volume, the editor of the Rodent's Gazette must leave his comfortable life on Mouse Island to travel back in time via Professor Volt's Speedrat time machine. Stilton's enemies, the Pirate Cats (Catardone III, Tersilla, and Bonzo Felix), have gone back in time with their own time machine and intend to prevent Christopher Columbus from reaching America in 1492. Stilton, abetted by various family members and a friend, must somehow join Columbus' crew on the Santa Maria, which the Pirate Cats have already infiltrated, disguised (of course) as mice. The story has plenty of action and slapstick physical humor to satisfy both fans of the original stories and readers meeting the characters for the first time. Like the novels, this graphic novel is translated from the Italian.