Spacemice #2: You're Mine, Captain! product reviews

My son (age 7) and I are huge fans of Geronimo Stilton and we love all the spin off series too. This is the second book in the Spacemice series.

Spacemice is about Geronimo Stiltonix, Captain of the Mousestar 1 and all his crazy space adventures. In this book they meet two aliens who's spaceship has broken down. What's a mouse to do? Return them to their home planet of course and that's when the fun begins.

I'll start off by saying that there is a large romantic component to this book but it is done in a very humorous and age appropriate way. My son, rather than thinking it was gross, found it quite hilarious and even though there was less action (bad guys, fighting, etc) than we're used to, it still did a good job of holding his attention and it certainly didn't lack in the drama department. Of course it's impossible to just read one chapter especially when each chapter is more hilarious than the last and has lots of illustrations to keep little people interested. I love the extras that explain different fictional items that we come across and the occasional double page illustrations really add to the story. The aliens also gave a lot of opportunity for different voices which was funny for both of us and really brought the story to life.

This book was definitely a winner and I can't wait to see where the next Spacemice adventure will take us.

Mr Four and I have become fans of the Geronimo Stilton books. This is the first Spacemice book that we have read. As with all the other books, we were not disappointed.

We picked this book up in time to head away for a week at the beach. This was a very good thing as we managed to get through a good chunk while we were away. We really struggled to just sit and read one chapter. We had to read a number in a row as Mr Four and I were both hooked. Each chapter is only a few pages and there a lots of illustrations, so it makes for easy bedtime reading with Mr Four. We have enjoyed all of the Geronimo Stilton books that we have read together and this one was one of the favourites so far. A mix of Geronimo Stilton and a space theme is a winner with young children. I think that any book with this combination would catch Mr Four's attention. Mr Four was very excited when I suggested that one day he will be able to read the book again, all by himself. That is great encouragement for him to want to read for himself.

As with all of the books in the series, I liked the way that certain words are highlights on the page using a variety of fonts, styles, colours and sizes. This makes it interesting to the reader and helps the non-reading younger child have something extra to look at while listening to the story.

We enjoyed following Geronimo Stiltonix and his crew to the planet Flurkon. As always, Geronimo and his friends get into a bit of a pickle and get saved at the last minute. While trying to do a good deed by taking two aliens back to their home planet, Flurkon, they get caught up in a drama with Queen Stella.

I liked the way that some fictitious items mentioned in the book are listed at the bottom of some of the pages as part of the 'Encyclopedia Galactia' as though they are factual. This makes the reading experience of a fictional story appear more real and give credibility to the 'facts' presented.

As I mentioned, this book has stood our as a favourite after reading many Geronimo Stilton books. Mr Four and I look forward to reading more books in the Spacemice series to see if we rate the other books so highly. I really have no doubt that we will love every Geronimo Stilton book that we read.

The girls and myself have been reading the sister story Thea Sisters which is based on Geronimos sister Theas mentors. I was curious as to find out who Geronimo is and if his adventures were the same. Its like a mirror book as the font is funky just like the Thea sisters, the writing is exactly the same and the pictures are just as cool - everything was identical except who the characters were.

As usual, I read to the girls morning and night and my eldest would attempt to read the funky writing that would appear through out the book. My youngest would point out all of the pictures and I would read the story, couple of chapters at a time. Chapters are only about 4 or 5 pages long so was really quick. Pictures take up a huge part of the pages. There are footnotes on some pages explaining what a word meant which I think is fantastic and there are explanations boxes scattered through out also telling you what was going on.

The story is aimed at young children so is not complicated at all. It revolves around Captain Geronimo and his crew/family as they go on an adventure. In this occasion they rescue some stranded passengers and return them to there planet Flurken and become captured after a magic trick goes wrong. Its a fun story and in the end predictably everyone ends up happily ever after and they find heaps of cheese.

Although the girls enjoyed it, and the story writing is exactly the same the girls didn't gel as much with these characters I think because with the Thea sisters there is a group of them and they like the girly activities where as this was based around an 'adventurer mouse who just wants to be a writer'. Both girls agreed after we had finished that they prefer to stick to the Thea Sisters. In saying that this book was still good and had its moments.