I was reminded of a book tonight that was one of my favorites in childhood. The book is called Dear Rat. I found it stuck in one of my parent's bookshelves one day many moons ago, and read and re-read it throughout the years.
The main character is a sort of Archie Goodwin of the rodent world. He's got spunk, attitude, a sensitive side and an all-American sense of humor. I won't give you a plot summary here and now, but suffice it to say it's heady stuff when you're in grade school.
Now that I see the other kind of fiction I've enjoyed throughout life, I'm not surprised at that selection all those years ago. It was like finding my literary destiny. Not for me those great children's classics. Give me a tough American rat fighting criminals in the sewers of Paris any day over some ignorant stuffed bear. (Sorry, all you A.A. Milne fanatics.)
I don't know what ever happened to that original copy, but after I was married and had discovered the joys of the internet, I found another used copy on amazon.com. It's not longer in print, which is quite sad, but at least I have a copy for my own children to enjoy someday.
Now I've just got to get started on a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys collection...
In other book news, I finally finished The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Yep, all 1,500 pages. Hitler dies. We win. Who'd a thunk it?
4 comments:
So did the Rise and Fall, with Americans fighting in the Paris "trenches" remind you of Dear Rat, or was it just that Hitler reminded you of a rat?
Neither, actually. Art was talking to Zaya about the book (Dear Rat) because it's in Zaya's big bookshelf. Art told him that they ought to start reading it together at night sometime. (You can only read Cat in the Hat and Oh the Thinks You Can Think so many times before your brain starts to dribble out your ears. Not that I have anything against Seuss, but it's been three Seussy years now...)
I love amazon.com. I ordered some long, lost, out of print books from them this summer. I was so happy when I received them, I thought I'd never be able to own them again.
We couldn't be further apart in our taste in books. I do like some mysteries, but Hitler? Boring! I'm glad someone likes those books and I do not have to read them.
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