Cinderella's Rat

by Susan Meddaugh

Book Overview

Life is full of surprises for the rat who gets turned into a coachman by Cinderella's fairy godmother. Susan Meddaugh uses her wit and animated artwork to give a hilarious new take on an old tale in this story of an ordinary rat caught in extraordinary circumstances.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 061812540X
• ISBN13: 9780618125401
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.1" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

The best book ever!

This book was the most wonderful book you ever read. i say this because "Cinderella's Rat" is a life lesson story that talks about excpeting your apperance the way it is and i totally agree with it.

Shireen G.

This book is all about the quest of a little mouse's point of view when he got turned into a coachman by Cinderella's fairy godmother. He acted like a mouse when he was turned into a coachman so naturally, he was afraid of cats. While Cinderella was at the ball, he was out venturing his new form. His sister got turned into a cat, and then to a girl. To find out if she gets turned back into a mouse, READ THE BOOK!

Another point of view by Kathy

The Reason why I gave this book five stars is because the story Cinderella is children's book classic that was always told to a third person view of what was going on with Cinderella. Never was it told to see what was going on with other characters of this story,until now. In this book you hear the story from a different, funny, and very enjoyable perspective. I hope many others enjoy this book as I have.

A new twist on an old tale

Life is full of surprises. Just ask the title character of Susan Meddaugh's clever story, Cinderella's Rat. You may remember him from the fairy tale: he's the one that the Fairy Godmother turned into a coachman (actually more of a coachboy). While Cinderella is busy dancing at the ball, Cinderella's Rat and his sister, Ruth (who is still a rat), have an adventure of their own. They discover rat heaven -- a fully stocked castle larder. Before they can enjoy it, however, there's a case of mistaken identity, and a well-meaning new friend drags the boy and Ruth to a wizard so the wizard can turn Ruth "back" into a girl. The boy is afraid to reveal the truth. What if the wizard turns both him and Ruth into cat food? Since Ruth is truly a rat, the wizard can't completely change her from a rat to a girl. Much to her brother's dismay, the wizard transforms Ruth into a cat, then a girl who meows, then a girl who woofs. Before the wizard can "fix" his last spell, it's nearly midnight, and, well, you know what happens when the clock strikes twelve. The coachboy returns to his rat self, and Ruth helps her family by keeping the cats away. The most amazing thing about Ms. Meddaugh's illustrations is that when Cinderella's Rat and his sister change from rat to human or vice versa, they are still recognizably their former selves. As humans, they look slightly rodent-like, but in a cute way. As rats, they seem almost human, especially when the siblings are sniffing the cheese that leads them into a trap, or huddled inside the trap awaiting their fate.