Stilton, Geronimo. The Wizard's Wand (Kingdom of Fantasy #9)
August 30th 2016 by Scholastic Paperbacks
Copy Provided by Young Adult Books Central
When Geronimo is worried about his stressful newspaper writing job, he travels in his dreams to the Kingdom of Fantasy. This time, he arrives to find that Queen Blossom is missing. When King Regal built the Crystal Castle, he had the help of the Book of Spells, Crystal Sphere, and Whispering Wand, and these artifacts could help rescue Blossom. However, Geronimo finds that they are missing as well, so along with his friends, tries to retrieve them in order to rescue the princess.
For some reason, this series is often published in a paper over board hardcover, which is good news for libraries. The multiple full color illustrations make for a very lovely, if heavy, tome. Also a plus is the fact that these don't have the heavy chemical smell that other graphic novels have!
The Kingdom of Fantasty series books tend to be longer and more complicated than the first series. There are more pictures, including maps and puzzles. New fantasy characters often get a two page spread describing them, and even objects in the story occasionally rate a break in the narrative to explain them. There are still the illustrations on every page, as well as the words in different colors and fonts, but these are a bit longer because of the additional information.
The story lines are also more complicated. While the Miceking series has simple plots where Geronimo must go and accomplish one thing, the fantasy plots often have two complimentary story lines as well as more characters. This makes the book a fun choice for more sophisticated readers who might like books like Harry Potter or Nimmo's Charlie Bone but who want a fun read with more pictures.
Stilton, Geronimo. Pull the Dragon's Tooth. November 29th 2016 by Scholastic Paperbacks
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
The chief of the Micekings is bound and determined to make Geronimo a "true macho mouseking" and enlists the aid of Max Musclepaw, who has an inordinate number of Miceking helmets to his credit. They decide to sail with Olaf and go off on an adventure to take care of some dragons who are causing problems. The group (which includes the regular gang, including cousin Trap) jumps off cliffs, rides wild horses, and smashes lots of things while eating lots of stinky cheese. Of course, Geronimo saves the day, which gives him a chance to impress his crush, Thora.
The Miceking series usually has one major adventure that Geronimo must undertake in order to impress his crush. Along the way, there are lots of misguided adventures that usually end with several of the crew getting into trouble and needing to be saved. There is a lot more food mentioned in this series, usually progressively grosser, like pots of gloog.
I think the real appeal of this series is the array of creatures who chase our main characters around. Geronimo always comes close to earning his mouseking helmet-- this time, he loses out because he falls asleep and misses the ceremony, even though he earned the honor.
Have readers who adore the Redwall cartoon series? This is the book for them!
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