4th April World Rat Day

World Rat Day is a holiday to recognise the rat as a great companion because pet rat fans desire recognition for this little creature. Did you know that humans share 99% of their DNA with rats? The day was founded to challenge the stigma surrounding rats' poor reputation. However, it wasn't always the case! The Chinese zodiac honours the rat as the first animal in the twelve-year cycle, associating those born in the year of the rat with positive personality traits, such as optimism, intelligence and diligence.

I have written about this day before and added a list of books, so I am only going to refer here to books that have been published since that post.

These four are worth a read for very different purposes!

• The Cat and the Rat and the Hat  by Em Lynas and Matt Hunt

Cat is sitting on his favourite mat, when who should come along but Rat with a very nice hat? Cat wants Rat's hat and will stop at NOTHING to get it. But when Bat arrives wearing a fancy cravat, well, what could be better than that? Chaos ensues as both Cat and Rat decide they MUST have Bat's fancy cravat for themselves!

• Bear and Rat by Christopher Cheng and Stephen Michael King

Bear and Rat are the best of friends who do everything together, 
but Rat wonders if Bear will always be there to hold her hand, 
no matter what happens ...

• The Many Hats of Louie the Rat  by Sakshi Mangal

An inventive rat saves the day with perseverance, creativity, kindness, and some helpful hats. Louie the rat loves turning not-so-useful things into ingenious inventions, but none of the other rats in town seem to appreciate his odd, often ineffective gadgets.

 • The Little Rat and the Golden Seed  by Li Jian

This Chinese-English bilingual children's book tells the story of the Little Rat and the Grandpa - unlikely allies who embark on an adventure to find a golden seed. They encounter rough seas, fierce guards and tall mountains, but - in the end - bring home a golden rice seed and save the village from going hungry.

There's even a new graphic novel series for young readers that features a rat, Gnome and Rat  by Lauren Stohler.

• Gnome and Rat are best friends who live together in a charming forest. Rat enjoys drinking tea and finishing crossword puzzles. And Gnome... well, Gnome likes to polish his pointy red hat and eat delicious sausages.

These funny friends share various adventures, whether it's celebrating Hat Day, perfecting magic tricks, or tracking down a new signature hat for Gnome.