Rating: 
Summary: Endearing and Entertaining, but Not Long Lasting
Review: I, too, read this book at a fast clip - practically in one sitting. I found it to be both endearing and entertaining, but I was a little disappointed about the depth. There are many problems in various settings that are alluded to in the book, but they seem to be painted in stark outlines and then the story rushes on. The ending also left me a bit unsatisfied. It seemed to be less of an ending than simply a decision to stop at that point. The boy is too young to simply settle down and be a cobbler. How does he learn how to be a boy?
Rating:
Summary: Ok for younger readers
Review: If I could rate this book from 1-5, I would rate it a 3. I would rate it this because it's not very thrilling or too adventurous. It does however, have a couple of funny parts, like at the part when he bit his teacher's finger.
This book is about a boy named Roger who believes that he was a rat. Then trouble stirs up. After what Mr.Tapscrew heard of him, he has been trying to capture him. Roger makes it into the sewer, which frightens everyone in the city. Roger does get some close calls. Like when he was put on trial, but luckly won. Bob and Joan are his parents, that found him when all he could say was "I was a rat." Yet they still loved him like one of their own. Roger even meets the princess, who frees him from a cage! He even had the courage to bite his teacher's finger. It's an (ok) book to read.
I would recamend this book mostly to 5-6 graders, because it's really easy to read and the chapters are really short and have pictures that take up the whole page. It's still an ok book though. It isn't bad, it isn't really good, I think it's just ok.
Rating: 
Summary: An exciting book for all ages
Review: Let me start out by saying that this book was written excellently, and yet, he kept the story very short and not too wordy. "I was a Rat" is a book about a rat that turns into a boy. it starts out withh the rat-boy, whos name is Roger, knocking on the door of this old couple. The couple ask who he is and where he is from, but all he says is that he was a rat. So the couple take him in for the night. Since the boy was a rat, he didn't know anything about being a boy. So the whole story portrays a rat becoming a human in a comical and exciting narrative. Thos book was very humorous, yet serious in it's own way. i loved this book. A great read.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a Rat; You're a Rat
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: The inimitable Pullman
Review: Pullman's "I was a Rat" is an excellent critique on the social and political system of the day. Hilariously funny and mockingly accurate, a super read! But then I love Pullman anyway!
Rating:
Summary: Delightful twist on a fairy tale!
Review: Start off with an interesting mystery, then move into a series of ever more tragic adventures, and somehow--with a little love and luck--succeed in the end. This is the hallmark of a terrific children's story, which isn't just for children. The story is for the kids, but the subtext is for the adults. "I Was A Rat!" includes some interesting critique of tabloid media attention (bringing a classic fairy tale to the modern age), overreactions, and the testimony of "experts."
Pullman has a habit of telling great stories with "deeper" meaning, which is why he's so readable. Kids and adults alike should enjoy this. "It's what he is that matters, not what he does." Or is it the other way around?
Rating:
Summary: Delightful twist on a fairy tale!
Review: Start off with an interesting mystery, then move into a series of ever more tragic adventures, and somehow--with a little love and luck--succeed in the end. This is the hallmark of a terrific children's story, which isn't just for children. The story is for the kids, but the subtext is for the adults. "I Was A Rat!" includes some interesting critique of tabloid media attention (bringing a classic fairy tale to the modern age), overreactions, and the testimony of "experts."
Pullman has a habit of telling great stories with "deeper" meaning, which is why he's so readable. Kids and adults alike should enjoy this. "It's what he is that matters, not what he does." Or is it the other way around?
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK BY PHILIP PULLMAN
Review: THE BEST BOOK PHILIP PULLMAN EVER WROTE WAS I WAS A RAT. IT IS A GREAT BOOK BECAUSE IT HAD A LOT OF DETAILS, EXPRESION, MYSTERY WORDS, AND FEELINGS. IT CAN GRAB YOUR FEELINGS IF YOU READ THE THE BOOK. IF YOU LIKE TO SOLVE MYSTERIES THEN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. ALL OF YOU OUT THERE HAVE GOT TO READ THIS BOOK. WHEN YOU GET AT THE END YOU WILL WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT IT. IF YOU DO WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT IT THEN DO A SEARCH AND SEE IF THERE ARE MORE BOOKS THAT PHILIP PULLMAN WROTE - THEY ARE VERY INTERESTING.
Rating:
Summary: Funny but little action
Review: The book I read was I was a Rat I would give this book a three because there was no action. The good part was there was some comedy. It was only ok because action is one of my favorite type of books but I like comedy.Most of this book is funny. To prove it, I'll tell you about the story. It starts with a boy coming to a married couple's, Bob and Joan's, doorstep. The little boy claimed to be a rat. Bob and Joan feed the boy. After they fed him, they said he needed a name since he couldn't remember his or he didn't have one. So, they called the boy, Roger. Bob and Joan went everywhere trying to find where he lived. But no one knew and just about no one cared. So Bob and Joan took Roger in to be their own. The royal philosopher took Roger to ask him some questions Roger ran away because he saw a cat. That was the day after Roger went to school and bit his teacher. When he ran away he got caught by a carnival owner of freaks. The owner, Mr.Tapscrew, dressed him in a rat suit and said he was half rat half-human. After he made a freak of him himself, some one freed Roger. Then Roger hid in the sewer. I'm not going to tell you any more you have to read the book. The people I would recommend this book to people who like comedy. The comedy in this book is Roger is always doing something wrong because he doesn't know what is right or wrong. Roger is always biting people or trying to at least. Roger even likes to eat pencils. The funny parts mix action and comedy . So if that sounds good to you, it's your kind of book.
Rating:
Summary: A new twist.
Review: The story of the rat who was changed into a boy to go with Cinderella's coach. He got to playing with the other Palace page boys and never made it back to the coach, so he has remained a boy. But he still acts like a rat at times. The newpaper hype blows the whole issue of a rat/boy into a media frenzy before the story ends. Fun reading.
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