Back when I was a little kid, I wasn’t the biggest fan of reading. It was a huge accomplishment when I finished a multi-chapter book cover to cover. I was also in a mother-daughter bookclub, and we would read some heavy books! When I was 10 or 11, we read Marley & Me. I should also note that my family and I had a yellow lab at the time, and after finishing the book I laid down next to my dog and cried.
One day, my mom came home with a book that seemed quite interesting! I think she actually bought it from my school’s annual Book Fair! You remember those, don’t you?
Well, one of the books was a Geronimo Stilton book. What drew me into it? Well, every page was full of pictures and colorful exciting words that were in different colors and fonts! A perfect kind of book for an elementary schooler who hated reading. We would go and visit my grandparents, who lived in Williamsburg, many weekends and I would read my Geronimo Stilton books on the one-hour car ride.
This would be as close to reading graphic novels as I got until my sophomore year of college here at UMW in my Writing Through Memoir with Dr. Pineda (who is one of my favorite professors). We read Fun Home and Persepolis, as two graphic novels, and then read numerous other memoirs.
It is difficult for me to remember everything about Geronimo Stilton and his adventures, so here is a quick explanation from Scholastic’s website:
“Geronimo Stilton is the publisher of The Rodent’s Gazette, Mouse Island’s most famouse newspaper. He is Rattus Emeritus of Mousomorphic Literature and Neo-Ratonic Comparative Philosophy. In his spare time, Mr. Stilton enjoys collecting antique cheese rinds, playing golf, and telling stories to his nephew Benjamin. He lives in New Mouse City, Mouse Island” (Scholastic).
Just some of the titles of the books are Geronimo Stilton: A Fabumouse Vacation for Geronimo, Geronimo Stilton: Attack of the Bandit Cats, and Geronimo Stilton: Red Pizzas for a Blue Count. Obviously, we are all too old to read these children’s stories, but I have to say, these books were some of my favorites as I was growing up.
Take a look inside!
Sources:
Geronimo Stilton, Scholastic, 2018, www.scholastic.com/kids/books/geronimo-stilton/.