Rating: 
Summary: Cute
Review: A cute little satire on the power of the press, how easily people can be led to believe the untrue, and the exclusion or inclusion of the weird and different. It also hints, for the eagle-eyed reader, at a very famous fairy-tale and a small detail that never gets handled...."I was a rat." Or so says the lead character of this little illustrated novel. A little boy in a page uniform turns up on the doorstep of cobbler Bob and his wife Joan -- he can't give any kind of self-identification, except claiming that he was a rat. (Meanwhile, in little newspaper snippets we hear that the prince is getting married). The little boy, now named Roger, displays some ratlike tendencies like chewing through pencils and ripping up pillows. Despite this, he is also sweet-natured and eager to please. But things go awry when the Royal Philosopher wants to study Roger -- and the boy escapes. He bumps into a juvenile gang, a freak-show, and is finally labelled a ratlike monster by the press and high-up officials. Who can help him now? This is a cute story, pretty sparsely written and with a straightforward dang-he's-one-step-ahead-of-us plotline. There are a few plot holes, and some of the explanations feel a little odd and forced, though they do fit. And of course, there are the overblown bits of tabloid -- great fun. Roger is a thoroughly sympathetic character, whom you are able to relate to despite the fact that he is so easily led, and thinks he's a rat. Equally, but differently, relatable are Joan and Bob, and Princess Aurelia. The other characters are more stereotyped in a pleasant sort of way, such as the gang of boys, the circus owner, and the various officials who crack down on Roger. Overall, a cute and fun read. Definitely worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Rat or Human?
Review: A great book you should read is I Was A Rat. It is a fiction book by Philip Pullman. The story is easy to visualize. There are many good describing words like when he tears apart the room or when he ate the pencil.
This book is about an old couple named Bob and Joan. One night, a nine-year-old boy knocks on their door. He was dressed in a pageboy uniform. He said, "I was a rat." Bob and Joan brought him inside and fed him bread and milk. They named him Roger. Roger is put on a bed to sleep on. In the morning when Bob and Joan go to check on him, he had chewed up everything, like a rat. Feathers where everywhere and the curtains were ripped. Bob and Joan try to find out where he came from, but have no luck. Then they brought him to school, but that didn't work either.
One day, a man comes to their house. He takes Roger for inspections and tests. He said that he should be home for dinner. Dinner comes, but Roger doesn't. Roger is taken to a circus, a gang, and a lab. Everyone thinks he is a rat. Bob and Joan need to prove he is a he is a human...or can they?
I recommend this book tom anyone who likes magic and rats, or just wants to read a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Cute but not Worth The Moola
Review: A very cute story, but hardly worth $15.95 in hardcover. I think Mr. Pullman and his publisher are cashing in big time on his name. I am a huge fan of retellings of famous myths and stories (Wicked; Confesssions of an Ugly Stepsister; Mysts of Avalon), but this is very, very lightweight. Don't get me wrong. It's a lovely little story. But little it is. If they republish this as a $4.99 paperback, definitely pick it up.
Rating:
Summary: fun & enjoyable book
Review: Aren't all rats exterminated? Philip Pullman wrote, "I Was a Rat" and that's just what Roger says, "I was a rat and now I'm a boy." Roger gets into all sorts of trouble like most rats, I mean boys. He causes chaos in the palace with the other pageboys. He's displayed as a freak show with a traveling fair. He even helps a gang of rats, I mean boys break into a house and steal the goods. Bob and Joan have always wanted a child of their own. Then one day Roger knocks on their door and their life is never the same again. They try to send him to school, but that didn't work out too well. What should they do with this once-rat now-boy? They ask at the police department, the hospital, and even the palace philosopher. This is a fun and enjoyable book. It's full of suspenseful adventure with Bob and Joan always one step behind. But it also has a hint of fairy tale to it. Roger is missing! Bob and Joan have looked everywhere to find him. Then one exhausting evening after searching for Roger, Bob reads the newspaper headlines about monsters. (p. 127) Bob says, "We been so busy we missed all this. It seems they found this rat-creature in the sewers, and they're going to put it on trial and decide whether or not to kill it."
Joan realized what he meant. "You don't think -" she began.
"No, it couldn't be" he said reluctantly. "But just suppose -"
"What's it look like?"
"Let's see," said Bob, turning the page. "Evil - hideous - dangerous - vile - bloodthirsty - they don't say what it looks like ..."
"He couldn't change, could he? The little one? He couldn't go back to being a proper rat?"
Bob was silent. "We don't know as he ever was," he said finally. "He might have only thought it."
"Bob, suppose it is Roger?" she said. "And they're going to kill him!" Yes, Roger's on trial to be exterminated. Are Bob and Joan the only ones who believe in him? But how can they get into the courtroom? And even if they do get in, how can they save Roger? Who can save Roger from the exterminators?!?
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I chose the book "I WAS A Rat", because when i was looking through the book shelf it cought my eye. The colors and the pictures were the best part about it. The story was too childish for some one my age(13). I do think that a child between the ages of 5-7 would find it more interesting. More details would have olso helped. Like where and when this story took place.
Rating: 
Summary: Be careful what you wish for, it may come true!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: i was a rat
Review: I liked this book because it was a surprise all the way through the book and was it was hard to even guess what was going to come next. The funny part of the story for me was that no one knew that Roger had been a rat before except Mary Jane, Princess Aurelia. No one even believed him either.
The book, I Was A Rat, is about a little boy who claimed to have been a rat but not even one person believes him, they all think he is a little nutty. He has strange eating habits of rotten foods, cheese, leathers, and clothes. He gets lost and hides in the sewers and when he is found they think that he is non-human and they want to exterminate him. They decide to prosecute him and he loses so he is sentenced to extermination. The Princess finds this out and saves him because she knows that he is only human.
I would recommend this book to people of any age because this is an easy book to read and it is full of surprises and suspense. It is very funny sometimes. This is the perfect book for someone who wants a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: I Was A Rat : A strange story, but wonderfully touching!
Review: I Was A Rat is a strange story, indeed, but Philip Pullman brings the story to life as soon as the story begins, already riveting and satisfying. A mischievous young boy is found claiming he's a rat, and tries his best to do so by eating anything placed before him. At first , no one believes this crazy story -- but as it deepens, people are beginning to believe the boy is not human but a foul, monstrous beast. Only three people out of thousands can realize the truth -- and show that a monstrous personality can never change a human. Philip Pullman shows who is human and who isn't -- for a human heart is there and not venom. Touching and exciting both at once, I Was A Rat will deliver laughs and tears at the same time -- remember , this is Phillip Pullman , and with his books, that will always be possible.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST BOOKS I'VE EVER READ!!
Review: I WAS A RAT! WAS AN AWSOME BOOK. THE STORY WAS WELL WRITTEN AND INTERESTING. IT WASJUST A REALLY GREAT BOOK AND I'D RCOMEND IT TO ANYBODY WHO ENJOYS FANTASY AND MYSTERY.
Rating:
Summary: News Headline: I Was A Rat Is Great!
Review: I Was a Rat, by Philip Pullman seems like a very weird story. The story starts with a cobbler named Bob and his wife, Joan. And when a little pageboy knocks on their door, they take him in, but this is no ordinary boy. Whenever they ask this boy where he's from he just says, "I was a rat." This boy thinks that he was a rat who turned into a boy; but Bob and Joan think that he is a normal boy that is a little ratty in his habits. Bob names this little boy Roger and soon after, Bob and Joan find that Roger chews whatever he can find, he rips apart his bed sheets with his mouth and eats pencils. Whenever he sees the story in the newspaper about Princess Aurelia, he says that she is his sister. When Roger, a very mischievous boy gets sent to school for the first time, he gets into a lot of trouble. At first nobody believes his story. That starts to change when he is taken in Mr. Tapscrew, a person who makes Roger into a lucrative fairground rat-freak. After people find out that the famous rat-boy is just a boy in a suit, Roger escapes and meets a boy-thief, Billy, who thinks Roger is a next-generation thief and gets Roger into huge trouble. After this Roger escapes to the sewers. During all this, Bob And Joan cannot find Roger, whom they think is lost.
Rumours start to grow about a monster surrounded by rats in the sewers. When The Daily Scourge, a scandal style newspaper struggling to find a new story other than "The Wedding of Princess Aurelia and Prince Richard" finds out about these rumours, they suddenly have a great Story-"MONSTER FOUND IN SEWERS!"
When this monster is captured, the daily scourge exaggerates everything that happens. They tell the government to "Kill the Pure Evil Monster" and they make everyone afraid of the rat-boy in the sewers. When Bob reads in the paper about the extermination of the monster, he and Joan do think that this "monster" is just the little boy, Roger, and they do everything they can to convince the public that this boy is not a monster. This story is about the power of the press over the public, and how easily the public can be deceived. It also reminds us about how much the media can exaggerate and that not everything you hear or read is true. This story is very touching, exciting and funny at the same time, if a bit hard to follow. This is a great book and you should read it.
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