5 Stars
Geronimo Stilton #11: We'll Always Have Paris
Lewis Trondheim
Nanette McGuinness
PaperCutz
56 Pages Ages:

Back Cover: Geronimo Stilton is the editor of the Rodent's Gazette, the most famous paper on Mouse Island. In his free time he loves to tell fun, happy stories. In this adventure, Geronimo has to face his worst enemies, the Pirate Cats, who have discovered a way to travel back in time and change history . . .

France, 1889, the Eiffel Tower stands completed and ready to be unveiled to everyone in Paris and to the rest of the world . . . but Catardone has a sensational surprise in store for the city! And this time not even Geronimo Stilton can thwart the daring plan of the Pirate Cats! Geronimo must find someone else to help him and fast!

Geronimo Stilton has been involved in ten other adventures. This is his eleventh and he could be about to finally fail a mission. Catardone the cat is a bad cat. A very bad cat. He and his cohorts have found a way to travel back in time to 1889 Paris, where they plan to upset history and the biggest monument in Paris!

Professor Von Volt, a famous scientist on Mouse Island, built a time machine for Geronimo and his family just to defeat the devious cats. The "Speedrat" zooms through time and space faster than a bully who has meet his comeuppance. To Paris they go. Disguised as construction workers, the Stilton's help build the Eiffel Tower while trying to find out what the cats are up to. The plan discovered, Geronimo realizes he cannot defeat Catardone alone and calls in a special weapon. Hopefully, Catardone and his cataclysmic catastrophe can be stopped before the world as we know it no longer exists.

This is my first Geronimo Stilton graphic novel and I enjoyed every panel. Never interested in graphic novels until just recently, PaperCutz books are great fun, humorous, and didactic. Kids will love this book. The story is funny in a way kids enjoy, while entertaining adults as well. The antics of the Catardone Cats (Gang?), remind me of Sylvester and Tweety Bird or the Roadrunner and Wyle E. Coyote.

I really liked the occasional box detailing something about that era or about the Eiffel Tower in particular. One of the designs Catardone tries to use is a twenty-first century design, mixing the past with the future. How will the cat of all cats pass off the architecture of a twenty-first century architect to the creator of the Eiffel Tower?

The building looks like a pickle and uses details not yet seen in Europe. Have you ever wondered what it took to build the Eiffel Tower? Well, honestly, I never have, but the information in We Always Have Paris is fascinating and I am glad to have read it. The snippets are good and kids will find them interesting. I also like the occasional definition for an uncommon word. It simply appears in a small box, no intrusion, no graphic pulling your eyes, and yet difficult to overlook.

The illustrations are brightly colored, finely detailed, and expressive; all of the qualities of good illustration. The panels of the story are fun to look at, they enhance the text, and could easily be a successful Saturday morning cartoon. The only "bad" I have to say about the illustrations concerns the characters that are cats. At times, without the disguises, a cat reminded me of a mouse more than a cat. I would prefer more cat-features that are distinctly cattish.

Geronimo Stilton: We'll Always Have Paris is a fun read for both boys and girls. I would also recommend this for reluctant readers of both genders. Geronimo Stilton is the narrator and credited author. He often clarifies a strange word or other needed information. Kids could write their own side boxes or panels, thus integrating one more sense into the learning process. This volume of Geronimo Stilton, and those before it, would be great additions to any first or second grade classroom library. The story is sure to peak their interest in the Eiffel Tower and Paris, plus when it is fun, memories are better. Those Eiffel Tower tidbits can start young minds thinking.

received from publisher, Papercutz/originally reviewed on Kid Lit Reviews
http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2012/11/02/geronimo-stilton-11-well-always-have-paris... ( )