Red Pizzas for a Blue Count

September 1, 2004
Gr 2-4-Geronimo Stilton, globe-trotting publisher of The Rodent's Gazette, returns. In Cheddarface, the respectable mouse's reputation is under attack. A double, hired by the editor of the local scandal sheet, is impersonating him-and causing havoc all over town. When the cheesy counterfeit even takes over the Gazette office, Geronimo has to find a way to reclaim his identity-and to get even with his tabloid rival at the same time. In Pizzas, Stilton responds to an SOS from his cousin, trapped in the Transratanian castle of Count Von Ratoff. The castle's weird inhabitants wear long capes and have sharp, pointed teeth and an eerie preference for red liquid diets. Can Geronimo get his cousin-and himself-out alive? The comic-book-inspired design features cartoon illustrations that often spill across the text, which also incorporates a wild hodgepodge of type fonts, graphics, and colors. The broad humor, frantic action, and pun-filled dialogue may appeal to transition readers, but better-written and funnier adventure series such as Jon Scieszka's "Time Warp Trio" (Viking) are available.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.