Feed Me Friday Books: Geronimo Stilton

I can hardly believe it's Friday already, but it is.  I so much look forward to Feed Me Books Friday and was really touched by Jana's post about Literacy, because it

I must confess that I have been tutoring/teaching a boy for the past 1 1/2 years in my home.  And while that story would be long, it is not to be told today. The journey has been far from easy, is has been filled with frustration, some tears, many prayers, and some victories.  Because of the extreme neglect of his education, there were many area that "John" needed and I felt so inadequate.  The last grade we suspect he attended was 2nd or some of 3rd, though he should have completed 5.5 when he arrived on my doorstep. He has so many areas that needs attention that I many times loose perspective and wonder what in the world I was thinking! But God is greater than I and knows the BIG picture of my student's life...

One of the first areas he struggled with was his reading.  When he first came, he could not spell or even sound out all of his letters.  He stuggles with spelling and his handwriting is that of a 3rd grader, but his reading has taken off and his comprehension is good, if we discuses thing verbally.  He has excelled from a RL (Reading Level) of 2.0 to 4.5.  He has been a reluctant reader, but there is one series of books that tempts him greatly and he grabs for them every time he needs to select a books for home reading.  We began purchasing some of them for Youngest when he was in 1st grade and he loved them.  What could possibly grab the attention of two boys, one who thirst for reading and the other who dreads it?
Geronimo Stilton!  

Who is this character?  He's a Mouse from New Mouse City who runs The Rodent’s Gazette, a newspaper, but loves writing adventure stories.  His books, for RL 3 or ages 7-10, are filled with adventure, history, geography, expressive fonts, terrifically descriptive words, a list of characters, great illustrations, maps, drawings, and so much more.  

According to Kidsread.com, They were originally published in Italy (where they're the bestselling children's books, besting Harry Potter), and have been translated into 35 languages.


To add to the fun, each book is fully illustrated with funny drawings, colorfully expressive fonts, maps, character lists and pictures --- and much more.

At Scholastic, there are printable pages and activities for certain books. 
I love how they take many "favorite and descriptive" words, using expressive fonts, to make the story more exciting, by helping the student work on expressive reading.  You can see by the picture on the right a few examples.  



Each book is filled with geographical or hisorical facts, charts, list of characters (mouse version), and make them come to life with much action and adventure. (see picture to the right)


Most of the time you can find these at public libraries, used book stores, Amazon, your local bookstore, and school Book Fairs.  I hope you'll take the time to check a few of these out for your young readers!


Here is a short "letter" from Geronimo to teachers and parents that was taken from Scholastic's Geronimo website.

I’m Geronimo Stilton, editor of The Rodent’s Gazette, the most popular newspaper in New Mouse City. I also write exciting stories based on my adventures, that are spectacular, silly, surprising, and fa-mouse-ly funny!

Using my books in the classroom is a great way to improve your students’ reading and writing skills. That’s because they make learning fun! Using this guide, you’ll help students to:
3Use dialogue to enliven writing
3Incorporate pictures and words into a story
3Use descriptive words to make characters come to life
3Build vocabulary to make more colorful stories
In no time at all, you’ll have young mouselets following in my paw-steps and creating fabumouse stories of their own!

 If you would like to read Jana's post about literacy or see what other fabulous books have be reviewed, head over to The Adventure of Motherhood: Feed Me Friday Books!