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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  the_hag | Jan 17, 2008 |   no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Ten-year-old Arthur and his grandmother are doing just fine on their own -- except for that Grandpa has been missing in Africa for four years and a developer villain is evicting them from their own house. Things sour further when antique dealers haul away all of Grandpa's priceless African artifacts and books. Arthur is certain that his grandfather must have left some hidden message somewhere that will reverse their current downward spiral. He hopes to discover some way to enter the world of the beautiful, red-haired, blue-eyed African Princess Selenia that he saw in his grandfather's sketches; member of a tiny (less-than-an-inch-tall) tribe called the Minimoys that he suspects might live in Grandma's garden. But how, when Grandpa's attic has been stripped of clues?
Besson's story contains many of the elements of a good, suspenseful children's adventure, but it is often over told, employs an abundance of facile plot solutions, and loses threads and themes in a long, dizzying action-adventure sequence that abruptly ends as "to be continued." Still, it's hard to resist a likeable hero-protagonist, treasure maps, the promise of rubies, and a land of warring tiny people. Let the hype begin! The sequel Arthur and the Forbidden City is due in fall 2005, and Arthur, a computer-animated movie based on the books, is due out in 2006, with Madonna voicing the part of Princess Selenia. (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson
(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:20:46 -0500)
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Wikipedia in English
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. (