The Highway Rat is an exciting and child friendly book about a mean, greedy and vicious rat that goes round stealing other animal’s food. After snatching other animal’s food, the rat finally comes across a duck, which did not have anything to give him. So, the rat could not let the duck go without giving him anything, so he expressed his interest in eating the duck instead. However, this duck was very clever and was able to quickly think on his feet. He informed the rat that there is a place where the rat can get lots of cakes and biscuits and that they will be much tastier than him. So off went the rat along the path to that special place. Finally, they got to their destination and the rat found himself trapped. The rat ended up working as a rubbish sweeper in that place and was not able to steal again.Although the story line is very simple, there is a lot of cross curricular links there. Our year 2 created a ‘WANTED!’ poster for the Highway Rat and wrote about the crimes of the rat and why they needed to catch him as soon as possible. The children had to use a range of descriptive language to make their writing interesting and for creating a sense of urgency. In addition, our year 2 created their own version of the capture of the Highway Rat with a clear beginning, middle and end. They had to use a lot of similes, adjectives and body language to create tension and a chase to grab their reader’s attention. It could also be used for PSHE lessons, to explore why stealing is wrong and how it can affect the victim’s life. In science they can look at food chains and animal habitats and use the story to explore these topics further. This is a great book with a great deal of cross curricular links. The children thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would personally link it with other subjects and get the children to engage in role plays, thought showers and hot seating to extend their understanding. I would also use the character of the rat in maths lessons to address misconceptions. I would recommend this book for KS1. The Highway Rat is terrorizing the countryside, stealing at sword point, taking even a single green leaf from the ants and the "hard, possibly rotten nuts" from the squirrel. Just because he can. Until one day a clever duck invites the Highway Rat to visit her sister; it so happens that this "sister" lives in a cave, so Rat's shouted desires are reflected right back to him, and he is led away from his life of crime.Yes, even the worst of bullies can get their comeuppance. The illustrations are simple, colorful, and child-friendly. A good choice for a story time.
What do You think about Räuber Ratte (2013)?
Love, love, love this parody modeled after the poem "The Highway Man"!
—Webgrrl
Published in England in 2011; first US publication 2013.
—esmy
