Customer Reviews

Cinderella's Rat

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked this book. I thought the artwork was nice and the story very silly and fun. My two children (boy and girl; 4 and 6) liked it as well.

The book begins with a large picture of a rat sitting in front of a pumpkin. He is explaining that he was born a rat and that he expected to be a rat for his entire life, however this girl caught him and then the next thing he knew some lady had turned him into a coachman, eh, coachboy. [Note that this book is not about Cinderella.]

Our hero then goes on to tell of how he ended up on a pumpkin coach with the admonishment to get the girl, now nicely dressed, back from the castle by midnight. His adventures then continue at the castle. Not being anything but a rodent at heart, our hero ends up in the castle kitchen where a new acquaintance almost makes the mistake of killing his sister: a rat who is raiding the pantry. He stops him, of course, but not before his friend gets the mistaken impression that the magic spell made his sister a rat, and not him a boy.

There are several little twists to this story and I believe four year olds and up will enjoy this different take on the classic tale.

Four Stars. Cute story and good read-aloud. The main point is that life is indeed full of surprises.

Yes, there are some similarities in plot between this book and the Wilson book, both of which I own and have read. (Because they're both based on the same folktale, perhaps?) But the whole tone of the books can't be more dissimilar. The Wilson book includes murder, riots,death by incineration, death by the plague, death by being eaten alive by thousands of rats...it's a dark fantasy not intended for children under 16, a satiric look at human society, demagoguery,how revolutions go awry (many echoes of the French and Russian revolutions)loyalty and love.

The Meddaugh book is intended for young children of 6 or so. It is a lighthearted fantasy about brother and sister rats, who get caught up in Cinderella's big night. Only one rat is transformed into a human, and when he tries to protect his sister from another boy by admitting their relationship, things get confused. The two end up at a wizard's cottage, where the boy, thinking his change is permanent,tries to see his sister turned into a girl. The wizard succeeds (sort of),but then at midnight, he's a rat again, while she stays a girl. All ends happily for the two, and the rest of their family, and none of the rats ever fear cats again. The moral of this children's book is summed up on the last page:

"Life is full of surprises, so you may as well get used to it".

Life is full of surprises. Just ask the title character of Susan Meddaugh's clever story, Cinderella's Rat. You may remember him from the fairy tale: he's the one that the Fairy Godmother turned into a coachman (actually more of a coachboy). While Cinderella is busy dancing at the ball, Cinderella's Rat and his sister, Ruth (who is still a rat), have an adventure of their own. They discover rat heaven -- a fully stocked castle larder. Before they can enjoy it, however, there's a case of mistaken identity, and a well-meaning new friend drags the boy and Ruth to a wizard so the wizard can turn Ruth "back" into a girl. The boy is afraid to reveal the truth. What if the wizard turns both him and Ruth into cat food?

Since Ruth is truly a rat, the wizard can't completely change her from a rat to a girl. Much to her brother's dismay, the wizard transforms Ruth into a cat, then a girl who meows, then a girl who woofs. Before the wizard can "fix" his last spell, it's nearly midnight, and, well, you know what happens when the clock strikes twelve. The coachboy returns to his rat self, and Ruth helps her family by keeping the cats away. The most amazing thing about Ms. Meddaugh's illustrations is that when Cinderella's Rat and his sister change from rat to human or vice versa, they are still recognizably their former selves. As humans, they look slightly rodent-like, but in a cute way. As rats, they seem almost human, especially when the siblings are sniffing the cheese that leads them into a trap, or huddled inside the trap awaiting their fate.

An excellent tale to be sure, but I am concerned that amazon and other reviewers seem unaware of Wilson's The Coachman Rat (published in 1990 by Baen) which is a dark fantasy on a remarkably similar theme.

I strongly recommend it to all the adults like myself who enjoyed reading Cinderella's Rat to their kids.

I bought this book as a gift for the man who played the part of the rat/footman in our production of Cinderella. It was a perfect gift. I thought the story was interesting but not really a good children's story since the rat's sister ends up as a human girl with a dog's bark. I found that a bit odd and disturbing for little girls who might read the book.

This is a great "what-if" tale. It tells the tale of a lowly rat that is transformed into one of Cinderella's coachman. But there is more. This story is very innovative and amusing and you get a rodent's perspective on this classic fairytale episode with a few twists thrown in for good measure.

This book was the most wonderful book you ever read. i say this because "Cinderella's Rat" is a life lesson story that talks about excpeting your apperance the way it is and i totally agree with it.

The Reason why I gave this book five stars is because the story Cinderella is children's book classic that was always told to a third person view of what was going on with Cinderella. Never was it told to see what was going on with other characters of this story,until now. In this book you hear the story from a different, funny, and very enjoyable perspective. I hope many others enjoy this book as I have.

This book is all about the quest of a little mouse's point of view when he got turned into a coachman by Cinderella's fairy godmother. He acted like a mouse when he was turned into a coachman so naturally, he was afraid of cats. While Cinderella was at the ball, he was out venturing his new form. His sister got turned into a cat, and then to a girl. To find out if she gets turned back into a mouse, READ THE BOOK!

I thought that this book was amazingly written for a children's book. In the beginning, a rat and his sister are caught in a trap, and the boy rat is turned into a stage coach. He escorts cinderella to the ball, and when they get back he finds his sister and then, she is transformed into a human, too. So that they can live happily ever after with each other.