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.

22nd July Ratcatchers' Day

Ratcatchers Day is celebrated on the 26th June or the 22nd of July, more commonly on the 22nd July. 

Ratcatchers Day commemorates the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the most infamous of rat catchers. Today is the anniversary of the legendary event of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I find this illustration by Emma Chichester Clark from Michael Morpurgo's retelling of the tale quite scary. She certainly has rats in plague proportions.

Should The Pied Piper of Hamelin be a children's story, given what happens to the children? Read this summary of the story.

One of the most well-known German folklore is the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hamelin, Germany was infested by rats. So, the mayor promised to handsomely pay the Pied Piper if he rid the town of rats. The Pied Piper played his flute. Lured by the magical music, all of the rats left town and followed him. He played his music all the way down to the Weser River. He waded into the river. When the rats followed him they drowned.

The mayor refused to pay him. So, one night when the townspeople were asleep, the Pied Piper played his music again. This time, the children of the town followed him into a cave. Some versions of the legend vary here. One version says the Pied Piper kept them there until he was paid by the town for his services. In most versions, the children were never to be seen again.

In addition to the Pied Piper of Hamelin, this day recognises the hard work of all Ratcatchers. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. So, if you see a hardworking Pest Control Professional, let them know you appreciate the work that they do.

The poet, Robert Browning told this story in a long poem, not necessarily intended for children, but this story has been included in fairy tale anthologies and made into picture books so it is now considered a children's story. In the current time of childhood I don't think parents would think the historic version appropriate, but many of the more recent publications have sanitised it somewhat and usually the children survive.

The version I enjoy sharing the most is The Pied Piper  by Ayesha L. Rubio. On the cover you will read 'adapted by' because in this modern version of the tale Rubio has an imaginative twist at the end. It's lighter tone has the mayor still refusing to pay and the piper taking the children away, but when the children disappear, the mayor is run out of town by their parents and the piper brings the children and the rats back. 

When this book was published, I remember reviewers saying that they found the ending less than satisfactory, but as my students are all under 8 years old and this is a much more reconciliatory ending I think this works well with young children.

Rubio's illustrations are a delight and each rat is imbued with mischief, right up to the last page.

The Child's Play version The Pied Piper of Hamelin  by Natalia Vasquez is also suitable for younger readers. Jane Ray's The Pied Piper of Hamelin is wordless so it allows for readers to tell their own story.

If you want to read a more traditional version with more text look for:

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin  by Michael Morpurgo and Emma Chichester Clark

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin  by Maren Briswalter

4th April World Rat Day

Tomorrow is World Rat Day. Not sure I want to celebrate rats but there are a couple of families at school with pet rats and people do say that they make good pets. What I can't believe is how many children's books have rats in them...and I do love The Rats of NIMH. When I looked up the catalogue today I found it hard to believe that we had over 80 books with 'rats' as a subject heading and that was in a library just for 3 to 8 year olds. When I added the other two libraries at school there were many, many more so they are a popular animal in children's books. So off you go to the library and borrow a story that features rats. Enjoy!