Summary
Mrs. Frisby's son Timmy is very sick. She must see Mr. Ages to get medicine for him. When she arrives back home after visiting Mr. Ages, she learns her home is in danger of being demolished by Farmer Fitzgibbons' plow. She cannot move her family because of Timmy's illness. Any movement could cause his condition to worsen. She is told by The Great Owl to visit the Rats of Nimh in the rosebush in Farmer Fitzgibbons' yard to see if they can help move her home. Mrs. Frisby begins an adventure filled with danger and amazing characters as she tries to save her family.
Bibliographic Citation
O'Brien, R.C. (1971). Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. New York: Atheneum.
Impressions
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh is an exciting story to read. The characters Mrs. Frisby encounters trying to save her home are well-developed and memorable. Her determination to save her family is admirable. The story was made into a movie called "The Secret of Nimh" which is now a children's classic.
Reviews
There's something very strange about the rats living under the rosebush at the Fitzgibbon farm. But Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with a sick child, is in dire straits and must turn to these exceptional creatures for assistance. Soon she finds herself flying on the back of a crow, slipping sleeping powder into a ferocious cat's dinner dish, and helping 108 brilliant, laboratory-enhanced rats escape to a utopian civilization of their own design, no longer to live "on the edge of somebody else's, like fleas on a dog's back."
This unusual novel, winner of the Newbery Medal (among a host of other accolades) snags the reader on page one and reels in steadily all the way through to the exhilarating conclusion. Robert O'Brien has created a small but complete world in which a mother's concern for her son overpowers her fear of all her natural enemies and allows her to make some extraordinary discoveries along the way. O'Brien's incredible tale, along with Zena Bernstein's appealing ink drawings, ensures that readers will never again look at alley rats and field mice in the same way. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
Editorial review from Amazon.com
It's a story about mice and rats - but they're very human little things. Mrs Frisby is having a worrying time bringing up her young family since she lost her husband. Her youngest, Timothy, is a bit of a weakling and falls rather seriously ill just at the beginning of spring. This is bad timing because in the spring the mice have to leave their winter home in the vegetable garden, and go to live in the woods well away from all the human activity. So what can Mrs Frisby do when she realizes that Timothy is not well enough to move? Well, first of all she seeks the advice of the wise old owl. This involves a hair-raising flight on the back of a crow, straight to the owl's home in the trunk of an old tree in the woods. It's a bit of a nerve-wracking visit because mice are, after all, known to be a tasty tit-bit for a hungry owl. The owl advises Mrs Frisby to seek the help of the rats.
Now, the rats who live under the old rose bush are a very special breed of rat. Mrs Frisby can see that as soon as she is allowed into their hole. These rats, they have electric lights and lifts and they teach their young to read! To her surprise, they seem perfectly willing to help her with her problem - they'll simply move the whole concrete block that the Frisby family live in, to a more suitable place. The only thing is, Mrs Frisby can't understand why the rats should go to any trouble at all to help her. It's out of loyalty to her dead husband, Jonathan Frisby. Actually, it seems that the rats knew Jonathan better than Mrs Frisby did herself. What is the great secret of the rats of NIMH? You'll only find out if you read the book because I'm not going to tell you. But it is a great adventure. -Jill Marshall, http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/
Library Settings
This book could be placed in a book display promoting summer reading. It could also be placed in a book display promoting children's classic stories.
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