For anyone that has dreamed of stepping into a fantasy world with adventure and with hopes of becoming a hero this is the perfect choice. Interesting characters with a wonderful amount of humor. My daughter and I read this book together and both us are in agreemnent on a 5 star rating. This goes into both our favorite middle grade book pile. ( )

It is around 1960 and Arthur is a ten-year-old boy whose parents are away looking for jobs so he is staying with his grandmother Suchot. His grandfather Archibald, who had been an engineer and travelled all over the world, has been missing for four years but left behind notebooks filled with stories about the Minimoys, a miniature people living underground who are all less than one inch tall. Archibald also buried some rubies somewhere in the garden. When Grandma can’t pay the taxes, utilities, and other bills, Mr. Davido, who wants to buy the property and build apartments on it, purchases the deed from the bank and is ready to foreclose. Arthur hunts for the rubies but can’t find them.
By means of a hidden message left by his grandfather, Arthur learns how to find the Minimoys and, in fact, is turned into one himself. Meeting the Minimoy king, his daughter Princess Selenia, and his son Prince Betameche, he finds out the reason for his grandfather’s disappearance. He too had become a Minimoy to look for the jewels, which had been entrusted to the Minimoys, but they had been stolen by an evil wizard Maltazard, so Archibald went off to find them and was never heard from again. Believing his grandfather to be yet alive, Arthur must go with Selenia and Betameche to the city of Necropolis in the Forbidden Lands to see if they can rescue his grandfather and find the treasure. But many dangers await them on the way. Will they even make it to the Kingdom of Shadows?
Our younger son Jeremy enjoyed the partly animated 2006 film Arthur and the Invisibles. I did not know that the movie was taken from a series of books until I saw the books on sale last year at a discount bookstore and picked them up. Author Luc Besson (b. 1959) is a French film director who decided to make a foray into writing children’s books. Based on an original idea by Celine Garcia, Arthur and the Minimoys was originally published in French and was translated into English by Ellen Sowchek. It contains little that is objectionable and is an interesting kid’s fantasy adventure tale that will appeal to most middle-school aged readers. There is a “sequel” of sorts, Arthur and the Forbidden City (2003), which is actually more of a continuation. In fact, the first book ends with the words “To be continued.” It was after writing the two books that Besson decided to turn the story into a film which contains the plots of both. Subsequent editions have combined them in one volume under the title Arthur and the Invisibles. ( )

Reading Arthur and the Minimoys is like watching a movie...and after reading some reviews, I can see way. It's being developed as a CGI movie in 2007, that said it's also a romping good adventure...a kind of Honey I Shrunk the Kids meets The Secret of Nimh with a smidge of Indiana Jones. As the story starts out, we meet Arthur who is staying with his Grandma and both sorely miss Grandpa who disappeared without a trace four years before. Family love is clearly present and Arthur really loves to visit with his Grandfathers collection of African books and masks, reliving through this the many adventures his Grandfather had as a younger man. It is the day of Arthur's tenth birthday the dastardly Mr. Davido shows up and tells them they have three days to come up with the money they owe or he's taking the house and everything in it...it's at this moment that Arthur refuses to take it "lying down" sets out to find his grandfathers long lost treasure.

From there, Arthur is transported to the miniature world of the Minimoys where he meets the feisty princess Selenia and her somewhat silly (but quite loveable) brother Beta. They set out together on an Adventure that spans the garden (which is a vast and dangerous as the wildest jungle from the height of ¾ of an inch) to stop the evil M, the cursed! As they make their way to the Forbidden City they face innumerable obstacles with courage and a bit of humor! Will they make it to the Forbidden City? Will they be able to stop the evil M, the cursed? Will Arthur get the treasure back before the cruel Mr. Davido boots his grandma out of her house? Those things are left to a second book...but readers won't be too disappointed with the build up to the arrival at the city because the journey there is half the adventure and a whole lot of fun to read.

Overall...this isn't great literature; it's just plain old fun reading. The story is easy to follow, the good guys are all good (and likeable even) the bad guys are all totally evil and the parallel story line between the "real" world (the M, the Cursed and Mr. Davido) and the world of the Minimoys adds a nice second layer to the story. This book would make nice light reading for a couple of nights for readers aged 8-12...nothing too taxing, but highly entertaining for a few hours! I give it four stars. ( )