I Was a Rat! : Or the Scarlet Slippers [Import] [Paperback]

Philip Pullman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Corgi; New Ed edition (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552211176
• ISBN-13: 978-0552211178
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be careful what you wish for, it may come true!, March 8, 2000

By 

Jane D. Fryman - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Was A Rat! (Hardcover)

I just completed a one afternoon read of "I Was a Rat." Couldn't put it down. I had the same experience with the Harry Potter books.

Philip Pullman is a master of satire, adventure, and mystery. This sequel to Perrault's Cinderella story is as much an adult book as an intermediate grade-school book as listed. Some call it Dickensian because of the many twisted misadventures the amnesiac hero experience as he stumbles through the streets of English society. It's fun to gradually recognize the familiar "Cinderella" story unravel as the answer to the puzzle of rat-boy's origin. After the Princess solves the mystery, confesses her doubts about her life with the Prince, and proves to be kind to those in need, I saw a similarity to the life of Princess Diana. See if you feel the same.

A moral lesson or two or three can be explored and embraced if your experiences and psycho/social needs warrant them. Can we believe what we see and hear? Should we trust our

own perceptions or those of the press and politicians? Is inclusion a safe policy? Shouldn't those 'out of the norm' be put away for the safety of all? What about old habits and innate genetic predispositions? Can an individual given love and patient guidance choose to overcome antisocial behaviors? Should we follow our hearts? - after all, Cinderella (now that we know what really happened) and Princess Diana did and look what happened to them.

Most of all, of course, it's unique, fast moving and fun. A great book to read to kids from 7 to 107.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a Rat; You're a Rat, July 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: I Was A Rat! (Hardcover)

Mix together the Untold Secrets of the Cinderella story, alittle Dickens, some satire of the tabloids, a jab or two at the royalfamily, and a little boy who tries to be good although he is, admittedly, a bit ratty in his habits, and you get a book that's new and funny and charming.

For adults, much of the fun comes from figuring out early on that the boy who arrives on the doorstep of Bob (cobbler) and Joan (washerwoman) is Cinderella's rat-footman who was busy playing soccer in the castle when the coach and horses went back to being a pumpkin and some mice. For children (mine at least), the book transfixes even if (in the case of my youngest) the secret of Roger's rattiness remains a mystery. And Roger's rattiness itself delights: he likes to gnaw and nibble -- bits of leather, tassels, bell-ropes. The way he looks at these chewables makes my mouth water. I'm glad that at the end of the book he's still a bit of a nibbler -- although much improved, as Bob is proud to point out.

These are good reasons to run out and get this book; but they're not the only reasons or even the best. *I Was a Rat* has a depth that many excellent books lack. It's a book about growing up, about moving away from instinctual ratty behavior to being a good child. And it's hard to be a good child. Grown-ups are a strange breed who impose strange rules; they punish children for curious reasons. O.K., you may not have eaten your teacher's pencils, but what about the paints that you innocently spilled all over the rug? This book is about growing up and about how it's a hard journey that's never entirely completed. As Mary Jane (Princess Aurelia to us) points out at the end, even wishes coming true can complicate matters.

*I Was a Rat*, however, leaves us cozy and warm. Roger is with Bob and Joan, who have learned what it is to be parents. They sit around the hearth as a family and the world, "a difficult place", is outside, but they have "toasted cheese and love." Who could ask for more?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A LITTLE WEIRD, July 21, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: I Was A Rat! (Hardcover)

This book was a little weird but a great read. I read it from cover to cover while at the "town pool." The story will grab you in the beginning and let you go at the end. Don't pass on this one.......