Thea Stilton and the Ice Treasure product reviews

Thea Stilton and the Ice Treasure was my first introduction to the Thea Stilton series of books. I have not read any of the other books, including the series this spun off from. So I was not sure what to expect. But the cover art looked fun and I love a bit of an adventure/thriller.

I was going to read this with my daughter, but she was not as interested in sharing this tale with me. She is 5. Maybe if she was 7 or 8, she would enjoy reading this herself.

Inside the book is just as colourful as the outside cover art. Even though it is clearly a novel, each page has lots of colourful pictures to go with the words. Even the words are colourful, with the occasional adjective 'popping' out of the text in bold colour. I did find that a little distracting when trying to read, but I'm sure kids would like it.

The story is broken up with facts and information about Alaska and the environment. I really liked that, though again it did distract from the main story. I know a lot more about the Arctic circle now, that's for sure! The story was neat though and I liked the little mouse related puns and things through-out the text. A fun story for the older kid.

My family are already huge fans of the Geronimo Stilton books, so we were keen to explore one of the spinoff series about Geronimo's sister Thea.

Set in Alaska, it is written in a warm fun style, with lots of interesting facts about the Alaskan country side, and way of life, scattered throughout the book. This particular book encourages the reader to use their deductive skills and solve the mystery, with little magnifying glasses and thought provoking questions.

Not only is this jam packed with fun, there is a strong environmental message contained within the story. I wasn't too far into this book when it referred to one of the other characters and story line from another book, I was a little concerned that perhaps prior knowledge was required, but this was a comfortable isolated read, with great background in the beginning of the book regarding Thea, and Thea's sisters, which is a group of her friends.

These books are presented in the familiar Geronimo Stilton manner, but the story line itself is a little more complex, as it follows more main characters, making it a great next reading step for those who are just starting to outgrow the original Geronimo Stilton series.

Would I recommend this book? Most definitely! I am so impressed by the rich language, fun and facts wrapped up within this story. This book would appeal to ages ten plus - my nearly 15 year old couldn't put it down, not that she will ever admit that publicly!

Firstly I have to say that I did really enjoy reading this book. Unlike the other Geronimo Stilton books I have read, this book as well as having a story line that has lots of interesting information about Alaska, also has a lot of fact boxes about Alaska and the culture and environment.

As with all the Geronimo Stilton books this has the same colourful text with the word font designed to relate to the word. Ie the word "ice" looking like an ice crystal. Almost every page has colourful illustrations related to the story.

This story is about the Thea sisters who are a group of girl mice that Thea taught at journalism school. The five girls Pamela, Paulina, Violet, Colette and Nicky are off to Alaska to find out why the ice is melting. The story is brilliant to begin with, lots of fact boxes about Alaska, the Arctic Circle and things related eg. the Aurora Borealis, malamutes and igloos. The story also has a lot of interesting information woven through it as the girls try to discover the mystery of the ice breaker ship the 'Seagull' with the sub plot of a little romantic interest and the importance of friends, honesty, working together and using the internet are blended in. Unfortunately I found what seemed like a brilliant story conveying a lot of information in a creative story line lost its way a little with the ending.

I don't want to give the ending away and actually given what Greenpeace get up to perhaps its not so far fetched!

I actually think that this is a really good book for your young reader to learn a little about what is happening to our planet, and the importance of looking after what we have, in a fun way. I found the information in the book really interesting and will use it as a base for discussions with my gi rls about the ecological importance of the Arctic Circle. I am hoping other Thea Sister adventures are written in the same style.