Book Description

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – Penguin

 by Robert C. O’Brien

If you stay in the house you will surely be crushed and killed, all of you.

Time is running out for Mrs Frisby, who must move her family of mice before the farmer destroys their home. But her youngest son, Timothy, is dangerously ill – how will he survive the move? This is bad timing because in the spring the mice have to leave their winter home in the vegetable garden, and go to live in the woods well away from all the human activity. So what can Mrs Frisby do when she realizes that Timothy is not well enough to move?

Well, first of all she seeks the advice of the wise old owl. This involves a hair-raising flight on the back of a crow, straight to the owl’s home in the trunk of an old tree in the woods. It’s a bit of a nerve-wrecking visit because mice are, after all, known to be a tasty tit-bit for a hungry owl. The owl advises Mrs Frisby to seek the help of the rats.

Help comes in the unexpected form of some mysterious, super-intelligent rats. But the rats are in danger too, and, little by little, Mrs Frisby learns the secrets of their extraordinary past.