Marathon Mouse:

Racing Around Ancient Greece

(Looney Tunes Wacky Adventure 5)

by
Annie Auerbach

illustrated by

Duendes del Sur

Scholastic, December 2003, 58 pp.
ISBN: 0-439-56586-3

Genre: Early Chapter
Subgenres: Cartoon Characters / Time Travel
Reviewed: 3/22/2008

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

A Game of Cat and Mouse

"Come out here, Speedy Gonzales," Sylvester cried. "What--are you afraid? Are you a man or mouse?"

Everyone froze. And then everyone laughed--everyone except Sylvester, that is.

Sylvester realized that what he has said was stupid, but his patience was quickly fading. He'd had enough. Sylvester pushed the black button and looked at the screen on the Re-replacer:

TIME REMAINING: 3 hours, 3 minutes, 7 seconds

"Just come to me," he called to Speedy. "We have to go back."

Speedy zoomed out of the tavern and up onto a ledge. "Are you talking crazy again, pussygato?" said Speedy. "You're silly!"

Before Sylvester could argue, Speedy was off and running. He had spotted an outdoor market. "Maybe they have cheese there that I could bring back!" he said.

"Andale! Andale! Arriba! Arriba!"

"Oh no! Here we go again," Sylvester said with a sigh.

The chase was back on!

Synopsis

On the WB Studio Lot, a group of four mice (Manuel, Jose, Miguel, and Fernando) are dreaming of cheese. The only problem is--they don't have any cheese. They wish they were in the state of Michigan, which they believe is full of cheese. They decide to use the Space Replacer to take them to Michigan, but Sylvester is guarding in the machine under orders from the Big Boss not to let anyone use it.

Jose shows his friends a card from Speedy Gonzales and whistles for his pal. Speedy appears and the mice ask him to get the Space Replacer. Not knowing what it looks like Speedy zips in and out of the building so fast that Sylvester cannot catch him bring back outside things that are not the Space Replacer.

When he does accidentally run into the Space Replacer, both her and Sylvester are transported back to Olympia, Greece in 776 B.C. Speedy take off looking for some cheese while Sylvester tries to fit in with the locals by wearing a Greek robe. He hears that the Olympic Games are starting and he realizes that the Re-replacer told him that he and Speedy Gonzales must be at Marathon, Greece in 3 hours so they can return home.

His only problem is that Speedy Gonzales is too fast for him to catch. Plus, Speedy doesn't believe Sylvester when he tries to tell him that they need to work together. Will Sylvester and Speedy Gonzales be stuck back in ancient Greece forever?

Marathon Mouse; Racing Around Ancient Greece is the fifth book in the Looney Tunes Wacky Adventures series put out by Warner Bros. It is a stand-alone book. This book was written by Annie Auerbach and illustrated by Duendes del Sur. This series is intended for early chapter readers aged 7 to 9.

Review

Speedy Gonzales has always been one of my favorite Looney Tunes characters. To this day, I still use his catch phrase, "Arriba! Arriba! Andale! Andale!" I always wanted to run fast like The Flash, so I totally got into Speedy Gonzales when I first saw him way back in the early 1970's.

Annie Auerbach does a great job writing these two main characters and brings ancient Greece back to life. The Olympic Games are one of my favorite things to watch on television, except back then it was only the Greeks that were competing, not the entire world.

The artwork by Duendes del Sur is top notch again, like it is in all the other Looney Tunes Wacky Adventures books. I found it refreshing to have a new character in this series, and not have Daffy Duck, who has been in all four of the previous books.

Overall, Marathon Mouse: Racing Around Ancient Greece is a terrific book in this Early Chapter series published by Scholastic. Young Readers will love the adventure and the artwork in this story. Shhh . . . parent will even like it too.

I rated this book an 8½ out of 10.