Bad Rats

by Eric Drachman, James Muscarello (Illustrator)

Overview

Josiah was a rat. He was a bad rat......or so he was told. In fact, Josiah and his friends are aspiring artists, and for a rat, painting outside the box like that just won't do.Follow along as Josiah and several other inspired rats teach their professor the value of creativity.The companion Book-on-CD will transport you and your child into Josiah's world with sound effects and wonderful performances by children and adults. The dramatic storytelling is narrated by the author and features his young nephew, Eli Drachman, among other delightful voices! (Audible page turns help your children follow along as they learn to read.)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780970380944
Publisher:	Kidwick Books
Publication date:	01/30/2008
Edition description:	Book and Audio CD
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.95(w) x 9.99(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

First of all, let’s get one thing straight. The characters in this book are rats. Rats who aspire to be artists. Joshua rat and his friends have been chastised for their creative endeavors by their teacher, Professor Perimeter, who insists that they not paint outside the box. But staying in the lines isn’t what being an artist is all about. In a story with a message about the value of creativity, Eric Drachman narrates unobtrusively. As the professor, he sounds authoritative and imperious toward the miscreants. As the voices of the creative rodents, Eli Drachman and others steal the show—sounding both innocent and exuberant. An original musical score adds vitality to a fun production with a message. A.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2008 - AudioFile

While the professor intends to school his pupils in darkness and deliberation, he learns much from his innocent charges, who teach him about the beauty of imagination. The over-the-top performance [on the dramatic audio CD] relishes the professor's villainy and the student rodents' sweetness in a way sure to charm creative dreamers of every stripe.

Booklist

The story should resonate with little ones constantly reined in for their own safety. And the triumph of self-expression and the will to risk everything for art are exhilarating.

The San Francisco Chronicle

In a story with a message about the value of creativity, Eric Drachman narrates unobtrusively ...authoritative and imperious...An original musical score adds vitality to a fun production with a message.

AudioFile Magazine

. . . lovely artwork, fun music and narration on the CD. In all, a very entertaining book and one for all ages.

Bookviews

Heart wins over Head in this nearly plotless fable that seems designed for adult sensibilities, rather than children's. Dubbed "bad" because one wants to paint, one to sing and one to dance, three rats are sent to stern Professor Perimeter to have their attentions refocused on mere survival, like "good" rats. Their performances, however, cause the Professor to recall his own youth-"He saw beyond the walls he'd built, beyond the world he'd known, and deep into the imagination he'd once possessed"-and to upgrade his students from Bad to "Exceptional." In his soft-toned illustrations, Muscarello dresses the Professor in a vest, provides smudges of paint or articles of clothing to distinguish each of the three young artists and places all in a minimally detailed curbside setting. An enclosed CD includes both a dramatization with an original soundtrack and (lest any aspect of the Lesson go unexplained) a lecture. Any promotion of the arts is worthwhile, but the main character here is the grown-up. (Picture book. Adult)First printing of 13,500

Kirkus Reviews