Take a good look at the cover — yes, the book is about a mouse going into space. Set in the fictitious New Mouse City, it is an adventure tale of Geronimo Stilton in his fight against evil.

But are the colourful illustrations enough to keep you hooked? Read on to find out.

The 52nd instalment in the Geronimo Stilton series is a continuation of the adventures of Geronimo — this time in the space and beyond.

Elisabetta Dami, the book’s author has a fascination with mice — so much so that she built up a whole children’s series with her lead character Geronimo Stilton — who if you ask me, belongs among some of the most famous animal characters from children’s books, such as Aslan (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Hedwig (the owl from Harry Potter series).

Although the main character of the story is a mouse — the plot is full of rabbit trails everywhere! There is a lot of cartoony in the book, a little too much I felt. I also found the space jargon used in the book to be a bit advanced for children. So it is not a book a child can just pick up and enjoy, they will surely have questions about it.

The story has some interesting twists, but may be a little too much to understand in one go though, like when the evil professor becomes a good guy. The storyline does not do justice to the plot and could have been more interesting.

One thing you guys will enjoy in the book is all Geronimo does on his way into space!

Sadly the setting of the story does not add much to the imagination of the reader and the introduction of new characters repeatedly doesn’t help at all. The adventures of Geronimo are somewhat dramatic. Unnecessary details and forced sci-fi illustrations shift the readers’ attention from the plot — making it really hard to figure out what is actually happening in the story!

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 1st, 2020