This book started out as a solid 5 stars. On the basis of the pictures themselves, it really does deserve 5 stars. The illustrations are absolutely amazing, and you could spend a lot of time just studying them and picking out all the details.

The story started off strong. My 7-year-old grandson and I were really enjoying it. Then it just seemed to fall apart. There seemed to be missing parts, and the story jumped in ways that didn't make sense. Some of it could be pieced together from the illustrations, but it wasn't clear that that is what we were supposed to be doing. Other parts seemed to just be missing. Then everything just seemed to come together and wrap up a bit quicker than it should have.

The book definitely has the potential to be great, if only the story comes up to the level of the illustrations. It makes me sad that it doesn't.

This is a real cute books for kids with wonderful illustrations. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

This was a cute story! The illustrations were beautifully detailed and no doubt will add to the imaginative adventures of its readers. The combination of the words with the pictures formed an interesting history/science story that will entertain and educate young children. It’s a winning combination!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I must say I'm a fan of Torben Kuhlmanns other titles and this was no exception.
The illustrations and diagrams are wonderfull. I love the lay out and the tiny details .
While the text is fairly long the pictures are so full of wonder there is enoigh to keep the smaller audiences attention.
I love how the science, mechanical and technical facts and drawings fit In perfectly with the story.
This fully met up to expectations.
Another lovely book by this author & illustrator that would make a beautiful gift for any child.

Illustrations that take your breath away.

A wonderful story and another excellent way to travel through history, in the adventures of a mouse. The author's first and second books, Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse, and Armstrong: The Adventurous Tale of a Mouse to the Moon, are equally exquisite fun and, together with this third tale, belong on every young (dreamer) reader's shelf.

A cute children 's story about a mouse going on an adventure. The idea is good and the picture are stunning. They are used to tell the most exciting hits which leaves the written words a bit too full for what should be an exciting adventure.

This book is absolutely gorgeous! I love all the colors and beautifully drawn illustrations. The story about a little mouse's wild adventures is just fantastic. I would love to add this one to my son's collection.

A nice little book that I read to my grandkids. Adventure with a mouse finding a treasure. My grandkids liked the book very much. It kept there attention and they wanted more adventures when we finished. Great for our afternoon summer reads.

“Nature has the answer to a lot of our problems.”**

Armed with a letter from a distant ancestor, Pete, a little mouse, seeks the help of a professor at the University of Mice to find a treasure. Through research the pair find that Pete’s ancestor travelled to America on a ship, but the ship sank before it reached American soil. Is the treasure at the bottom of the ocean? If so, there’s no way a mouse can get to the bottom of the ocean, is there?

But the professor believes “... nothing was impossible for a mouse.” He has stories of mice triumphing in the sky and even in space. If mice can fly and land on the moon, there must be a way to get to the bottom of the ocean. It’s just a matter of figuring out what has to be done. And so the quest begins. At first, Pete must explore on his own, the professor saying he’s too old for such an adventure. But when one of Pete’s experiments goes wrong, the Professor decides to step in and help. After all, he’s been there before.

The spirit of adventure and invention as experienced by a plucky little mouse and his mentor. You’re never too young or too old to take a risk and learn from your mistakes. A great addition to my STEAM collection. The illustrations are lush, detailed and gorgeous, as always. This series could be hanging in an art gallery. Pair this one with Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming.

A fascinating revisit to the story of one of the world's most important inventions, the electric light bulb, told through the eyes of a young mouse and his wise professor. With detailed illustrations and an engaging plot, Torben's book relates history through a hearty adventure to discover a lost treasure. In the end, the greatest "treasure" that Pete the mouse discovers is the truth about his long-lost relative and his role in history. Historical notes at the end of the book set the tale into context. GREAT!

I’ve browsed through the author’s two previous books, I found the art beautiful in style and still very fun and enjoyable. This is my first time actually reading him though and I’m very glad to take the chance to.
The art is still as beautiful and eye catching as I recall the other two books being. The story is simple enough but it’s fun and exciting and I love how the scientific process is infused into it. The story starts with a young mouse, Pete, coming to an older mouse, referred to as Professor, for help. An ancestor of Pete’s had left a note about a treasure he’d left behind and Pete is hoping the professor can help him out. Between their research and trial and error the two mice find themselves heading to the ocean for a ship wreck and a mighty adventure. The book is a fun read and I can’t recommend it enough. Very fun and cute.

This short children's chapter book was fantastic! The illustrations were breathtaking! We will definitely be rereading again!

I read this to my kids and they loved it! I enjoyed how the book also had a science element to it so it felt like it had more substance than some children's books.

Overall, it was just an excellent laid out story with an engaging plot, beautiful pictures and an enjoyable read!

This was a delightful read for both child and adult!

I read Edison to my 4 year old son over our short read aloud time in about 2 days. It is an incredibly beautiful picture book - with intricate and adorable illustrations of the mice and their world. The story is longer than a typical childs picture book - which is perfect for reading aloud to a younger child or for an older reader to enjoy on their own.

My son is a mouse-story-lover, who has enjoyed the adventures of Stuart Little and Ralph S. Mouse, and Edison was no exception! He has held captive through the story, and loved the bits of history interjected in it's pages.

The history excerpts at the back were a welcome surprise and helped answer the questions of my inquisitive pre-schooler.

I would highly recommend this title for personal and school libraries, as it would appeal to many children and educators alike!

There are so many things to love about this book. To start off, I loved how the story was told by alternating the text and the illustrations. It was genius to begin each chapter with words, then move to the next part of the plot with a few illustrations, all without disturbing the flow of the journey between the two mice. Torben Kuhlmann’s works of art throughout this book are not just beautiful, but mesmerizing. I found myself staring in awe at each piece of art and blueprint, trying to catch every detail as the mice made their way to the bottom of the sea in search of a priceless family treasure.

The story itself was captivating as well. Within the first few pages, I immediately was hooked and wanted to know what happened next. The science involved in inventing the submarine, the critical thinking, and the trial and error the two mice endured along the way are great lessons to show young readers that not all projects are perfect in the beginning, but if persevered will have great outcomes.

Firstly, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous, of excellent quality, and highly detailed. Secondly, I love that there exists a passionate engineer-minded artist who wants to introduce these scientific ideas to kids in a children's book. The story is decent for a children's story, obviously enhanced by the illustrations. However, the word choice and lack of complexity in the syntax leaves something to be desired. It feels quite casual, as if the author didn't think a child could understand a higher level of vocabulary or less obvious conversation. I would rather a parent participate in the book with the child to help them understand (especially, again, with the help of those fantastic illustrations) than for the language and vocabulary to be dumbed down. I write this from the perspective of an elementary English learner teacher. Overall, I would like to have this book on my daughter's shelf because of the science and the illustrations, but I would probably ad lib some more interesting dialogue and vocab.

(I received this title free as an e-book from NetGalley, but all opinions in this review are my own.)

Even though I am not a parent, I do have many nieces and nephews that I always try to share my love of reading with by gifting them books. When I saw the cover of Edison I was blown away by the exquisite detail of the image. I thought that if a book looked this good the story had to be just as amazing; and I was right. Edison’s story takes you on a journey and as you read it, you find yourself eager to discover what the hidden treasure is.

Torben Kuhlman's artwork is truly breathtaking. His exquisite attention to detail makes the scenes feel real enough, but yet with his timelessly old-fashioned settings you are taken back in time. This book is not just a book to read to your children but is also a collection of art that is conversation-worthy.

I especially loved how there is history tied with this story and at the end of the book you can read more about the history behind the creative mouse story. I think this book would be great for all ages- young or old- there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure by Torben Kuhlmann is a short and sweet children’s chapter book that utterly captured my heart. It’s illustrations are fascinatingly intricate and beautiful while the story the book tells was quite impressive.. The book gets off to a curious start, one that left me intrigued and slightly worried. Due to the shortness of the book, I had wondered how the author would include a story interesting enough to keep my attention and not feel much to short of a read. To my immense pleasure, Kuhlmann managed to develop a brilliant tale for young readers that not only is fun to read but accomplishes something a lot of fiction and children’s reading material doesn’t often do.

The inclusion of science along the journey of the two main characters, an old Professor mouse and a young mouse called Pete, to find out what had happened to Pete’s ancestor and the treasure he had mentioned having in his farewell letter to his family. The plot is cute and to the point, leading into the author’s own personal research on a particular important moment in history and the truth behind it, which a great many kids wouldn’t know about just yet. Often times in school, kids are taught names and the accomplishments those names are related to, but not a great lot about the history behind it. Ironically enough, I recall a little about the lesson this book cites in particular as it is taught to young children due to my role as an educator and I was thoroughly impressed with how the author is informative about such an important piece of history in a way that school sometimes, is not.

This is a great book to read your kids and a great way to get them interested in science, so long as you continue the conversation further after finishing the story. It’s not the most intricate plot or anything like that, and often the illustrations take over and tell the story at times—which, admittedly, I enjoyed immensely but can understand how some others might not—but it truly is a brilliantly creative tale that introduces knowledge about historical inventions that are wonderful for young children to be exposed to.

ARC Copy...very Jules Verne in style and adventure type approach which makes it enjoyable to read. The illustrations were very lavish and a sight to behold. It would inspire younglings to be adventurous and inventive themselves.

I love the sketches and the illustrations in this book! It is also a cute read with adorable mice that brings a fantasy element into a real topic. I like the length of this book and it will make a great transitional read for younger students.

Possibly the Best of the Bunch

This is the third mouse adventure book by Torben Kuhlman, following on his transatlantic flying mouse book and his mouse on the moon book. This time we search for undersea treasure. Make no mistake, these aren't just tales of mice scurrying around in the walls looking for cheese and avoiding the cat. These are gorgeous, clever, stirring tales that are broadly conceived, stunningly executed, and remarkably engaging.

To be fair, the "plots" as such are slight and the text wanders around a bit. In this book Pete and the Professor plan to search for a sunken treasure that was lost by one of Pete's ancestors. Fair enough. The devil and the delight is in the details. Kuhlman has a fascination with inventions, thingies, and odd mechanisms. He has a draftsman's eye and mad drawing skills. These may be the only kids' picture books that feature whimsical schematic drawings. So, you take fanciful mechanisms, adjust them to accommodate the requirements of mousey inventor/adventurers, and launch them into the air, toward the moon, or undersea.

Kuhlman works in watercolors and pen, which allows him to work on a big canvas, yet with exquisite attention to detail. The scenes feel real enough, but are quite fanciful and timelessly old-fashioned in their settings. Perhaps it is that odd combination of realism, period romance and mechanical fancy that make his works so appealing. What would a mouse-made, mouse-size submarine look like? Torben knows. Read this book and you and your child will know too.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)