Geronimo Stilton - The Hour of Magic product reviews

We love Geronimo Stilton and in particular the Kingdom of Fantasy series. They were the first chapter books that I introduced my son to and we really enjoy reading them together. The Hour of Magic is Geronimo's eighth adventure in the Kingdom of Fantasy and we were excited to reconnect with old friends that we know and love as well as some new faces. In this book Geronimo must save Blossom, the queen of the fairies, who has begun ageing at an alarming rate. If she perishes so does the Kingdom of Fantasy.

The story is fast paced and action packed. Geronimo is his usual scaredy cat self which provides most of the humour. I didn't find this book to be as interactive as some of the others. There were a few search and find pages near the beginning and a couple of places where we needed to decipher what was written in the Fantasian alphabet but that's about it. There are lots of colourful illustrations and each page is interesting to look at due to the use of different fonts and text sizes - great for kids who are being read to but not so much for young independent readers as my son has some difficulty deciphering the words.

My son and I read this book together over a week and there was a lot of 'just one more chapter' which is when I know that we're on to a winner. It's also inspired my son to pull out the rest of the series so he can read them to himself at nighttime. We can't wait for Geronimo's next adventure in the Kingdom of Fantasy.

Geronimo Stilton is a favourite in our house. We have now read many books in the range and Mr Six and I particularly love The Kingdom of Fantasy books. Although The Hour of Magic does have some references back to previous Kingdom of Fantasy books, the book is able to be enjoyed without the need to read the previous books in the series. This particular book in the series finds Geronimo needing to save Blossom (the Queen of the Fairies). Yet again he has to face danger and his own fears to be able to successfully complete his mission.

As always, we enjoyed the key features of a Geronimo Stilton book while reading The Hour of Magic. The pace was set at a good speed for children to keep up with. Mr Six has been enjoying these books for a couple of years (both being read to and reading them himself) and is still very much engrossed in the characters and the storyline. I love the way the text is written and the colour, font, style and size are all used in a way which makes it more interesting for young readers to enjoy. While I was reading the book to the kids, they enjoyed looking at the words, as well as the illustrations. Even for Miss Four, who is not yet able to read, she responded to the variety in the presentation of the text.

Speaking of illustrations, they are fabulous. They are all fun and interesting to look at. Colour is used to help depict whether a scene is a good and happy one or a scary and nasty one. The book includes bright and happy illustrations and dark and gloomy ones. We enjoyed all the nasty characters who from the dark side of the moon in the latter part of the book. Several pages were given to showing them all to us. The pictures were detailed and fun to look at. There was great imagination in creating the these characters. Personally, I likes the Toadephants!

As with other books in the series, there is a page at the back of the book which has the Fantasian Alphabet on it. Mr Six enjoyed decoding some of the codes within the book. Perhaps one day this will inspire the kids to create their own alphabet!

Toward the end of the book, there is a lovely message about how time is so valuable. It is something that you can't buy or stop it. Although children might think that is an interesting fact, it is actually a very powerful idea. As I sat and read this book with my children, I was sharing the gift of my time with them, as they were sharing their time with me. It really made me think how important these special family times are.

Mr Six is always happy to talk about the Geronimo Stilton book he is reading and this one was not different. The plan was for me to read the book to him, which I managed to do for the first hundred or so pages. After that, he obviously decided that I wasn't reading it fast enough and started reading on by himself. Each night when I went to read to him, I found that he was getting further and further ahead of me! He was quite happy to let me read from where I was up to and then later continue by himself from where he was up to.

This has been the first Geronimo Stilton book that Miss Four has shown an interest in and as soon as she heard me reading it, she ran into the room and hopped up on my knee. She was obviously impressed by the book as she was glued to the book and totally focused on hearing me read the book. Her whole face lit up many times as I got to parts she found exciting. She thought the witches were fun and liked the idea of smelly witches.

Yet another fabulous Geronimo Stilton book to add to our collection. I know that Mr Six will read it several times, just like he has done with all the others he now has on his book shelf!