I Was A Rat!

"Bless my soul!" said Bob. "Who are you?" "I was a rat," said the little boy. When a grubby young pageboy knocks on the door of Bob the cobbler and Joan the washerwoman's house, the kindly couple hardly knows what to think. Could this delusional boy be the answer to their prayers for a little one of their own? And was he really once a rat? It seems so. He shreds his bedding, for example, and he chews his toast swiftly with his front teeth. He eats an entire pencil and bites his teacher. Despite the fact that he is a little ratty in his habits, the old couple grow quite fond of the young fellow. In time, the word spreads that there's a rat-boy in town, news that intrigues everyone from the Royal Philosopher to the P.T. Barnum-inspired freak-peddler Oliver Tapscrew to a reporter from the local rag The Daily Scourge . As the harmless, well-meaning boy is transformed into "The Monster of the Sewers" through pure sensationalism and mass hysteria, Philip Pullman playfully satirizes the power of the press and society at large. What does it mean to be human? In this often darkly comic Dickensian tale, rats start to look pretty good by comparison. But in a fairy-tale ending, Bob and Joan teach us that humans, corrupt as we are, can always take solace in toasted cheese, love, and good craftsmanship. Kevin Hawkes's black-and-white illustrations enliven the already vivacious adventure that, thanks to Pullman's ever lovely wordplay and sly satire, is every bit as enjoyable for adults as it is for young readers. (Ages 9 to 12) --Karin Snelson From Publishers Weekly The latest offering from Pullman (The Golden Compass; Count Karlstein) is a witty romp with fairy-tale roots. "I was a rat!" claims the boy in a tattered page's uniform who appears at the door of a kindly shoemaker and his washerwoman wife. Bob and Joan take in the boy, teach him table manners, name him Roger and do their best to provide for him. But this wouldn't be satire if the makeshift family were simply to live happily ever after--and so begins a series of misadventures in which Roger (wildly unworldly and more than a little "ratty in his habits") is kicked out of school, appears as an exhibit in a traveling freak show, falls in with a Dickensian band of young burglars and ends up imprisoned and condemned to death as the so-called "Monster of the Sewers." Providing a hilariously overblown (but ultimately chilling) commentary on the doings of Roger and others are excerpts from the Daily Scourge, an utterly shameless tabloid. The author brings about the de rigueur happy ending when Roger's life is spared, thanks both to Bob and Joan's steadfastness and the intervention of a certain newly wed princess, whose cameo appearance reveals the truth about Roger's origins (astute readers will pick up on the early clues). Pullman provides poignant insight into a well-known fairy tale and insinuates its implications for today's readers. Ages 8-10. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 4-7-Distracted by mischief and some soccer playing with boys in the castle, a rat who was transformed as a coachman for Cinderella's pumpkin coach doesn't make the midnight curfew and remains a small boy in a page's uniform. In this spin-off of the tale, Pullman magically weaves fairy tale, humor, and adventure in this story of Roger, a scruffy little boy who, when he presents himself at the London home of an old, childless couple, claims to have been a rat. Is he a terrible monster, a fairground freak, a thief, or just an ordinary little boy with the somewhat ratty habits of ordinary little boys? In a delightful and witty parody of the press (even the title reads like a supermarket tabloid, and pages of "The Daily Scourge" are interspersed throughout the text), the author exposes the media's fascination with the weird, the sensational, and the horrible, all at the expense of the truth. And the parody is not confined to the press. Pullman pokes fun at government officials, medical personnel, philosophers, psychology, the Royal family, and human nature in general as a richly varied cast of characters attempts to figure out whether or not Roger is a rat. The author leaves readers with some thought-provoking ideas about living with the consequences of one's wish; about the importance of what one does, not who one is; and about the power of love. Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews PLB 0-375-90176-0 Pullman (The Firework-Maker's Daughter, p. 1651, etc.) takes aim at city hall, the law, police, and especially the press in this whirlwind spinoff from a certain familiar fairy tale. As The Daily Scourge trumpets the prince's whirlwind courtship with a mysterious princess, humble cobbler, Old Bob, and his wife, Joan, share a more immediate concern when an exhausted lad in a torn page-boy's uniform appears at their door, able to tell them only that he used to be a rat. Although his habits and table manners are indeed ratlike, Bob and Joan take him in, dub him ``Roger'' and, when no government agency shows an interest, begin to think of him as their own. A quick learner but completely at sea in human society, Roger immediately falls into a series of misadventures, from biting a teacher who tries to strike him, to becoming a sideshow attraction. He flees to the sewers, only to be hunted down and condemned, both in court and in the pages of the Scourge, as a danger to children. Fortunately, Bob and Joan bring Roger's plight, along with a pair of fine shoes, to the kindly princess, who, realizing just who the boy is, engineers a royal rescue. The satire is a bit heavy-handed, but children will find Roger's ingenuousness, along with his inordinate fondness for pencils and other tasty chewables, hilarious. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12) -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. "Phillip Pullman's tale is fast and clever."- New York Times Book Review Sunday, May 14, 2000 From the Inside Flap "I was a rat!" So insists a scruffy boy named Roger. Maybe it's true. But what is he now? A terrifying monster running wild in the sewers? The Daily Scourge newspaper is sure of it. A lucrative fairground freak? He is to Mr. Tapscrew. A championship wriggler and a budding thief? That's the hope of Billy and his gang. A victim of "Rodent Delusion"? So says the hospital doctor. Or just an ordinary small boy, though a little ratty in his habits? Only three people believe this version of the story. And it may take a royal intervention--and a bit of magic--to convince the rest of the world. . . . Set against the backdrop of a royal wedding--with a pertinent parody of the press--here's Philip Pullman's youngest, funniest novel to date: a magical weaving of humor, fairy tale, and adventure. "Phillip Pullman's tale is fast and clever."- New York Times Book Review Sunday, May 14, 2000 PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy ( The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass ), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly . He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass (and the reader-voted "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the best children's book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass ; a Booker Prize long-list nomination ( The Amber Spyglass ); Parents' Choice Gold Awards ( The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass ); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of his body of work. In 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. xa0 It has recently been announced that The Book of Dust , the much anticipated new book from Mr. Pullman, also set in the world of His Dark Materials, will be published as a major work in three parts, with the first part to arrive in October 2017. xa0 xa0 Philip Pullman is the author of many other much-lauded novels. Other volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North , and The Collectors . For younger readers: I Was a Rat!; Count Karlstein; Two Crafty Criminals; Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess ; The White Mercedes ; and The Broken Bridge . xa0 Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com and hisdarkmaterials.com. Or follow him on Twitter at @PhilipPullman. Read more