From the Desk of
Geronimo Stilton

Dear Reader,

Everyone knows the Mona Mousa. After all, her portrait is the most famouse painting in the world. For years she's had a special place in the New Mouse City mouseum, where she fascinates hundreds of rodents every day with her mysterious smile. But for centuries, no one knew why she was smiling.

Now, thanks to my friends at the mouseum, my brave sister Thea, my pushy cousin Trap, my favorite nephew Benjamin, and lots of other rodents I don't have room to thank here, the mystery has been solved! But it was a dangerous and difficult assignment. The search for clues took many scary twists and turns, and ended with a truly earth-shaking discovery. It happened like this: A short time ago, when art expert Frick Tapioca x-rayed the Mona Mousa, he discovered it had another painting behind it! As you know, Mousardo da Munchie, who painted the Mona Mousa, was a true genius who loved secrets. Even though he lived 500 years ago, his coded notebooks show that he invented such things as the submarine, the airplane, and the grilled cheese sandwich!

So, when I found out about Tapioca's discovery, I knew it contained a message in code. What a scoop it would be for The Rodent's Gazette if we could unravel the clues in the painting, connect them to more clues scattered around New Mouse City, and reveal da Munchie's greatest secret!

Little did we know that we were in a race with various sinister-looking rodents who seemed to get to each clue just before we did. It was a very close race. You'll find the whole story in my new book, The Mona Mousa Code. Read it and see if you can solve the mystery faster than we did.

Yours truly,

© EDIZIONI PIEMME – ITALY