Yes, this is a kids' book. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell came across my desk in a work-related incident and I was intrigued. It's on the Great Stone Face list which, for all you non-New Hampshire natives, is a list of books from which 4th-6th graders vote to choose the "best" book.
Emmy doesn't quite transcend kid lit to become a book for the ages, but it is appealingly packaged, including a wonderful "flip book" format in which we see a rat falling into the hands of a child. The names are Dickensian, which I'm not sure most 4th graders would get (or 6th graders, for that matter). The evil nanny (and aren't those always wonderful characters?) is named Miss Barmy and the rodent expert is Professor Capybara. Emmy is the good girl who longs to live her own life and then befriends a talking rat who has his own woes along with a secret power.
Mayhem ensues, the bad are punished, the good rewarded, people grow and shrink as needed for plot purposes, and a good time is had by all. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a fun little romp with an old-fashioned appeal and sometimes I like to dash through a middle school book because it's easy and fun. It's nice to have the excuse of work to read this sort of thing.
Emmy doesn't quite transcend kid lit to become a book for the ages, but it is appealingly packaged, including a wonderful "flip book" format in which we see a rat falling into the hands of a child. The names are Dickensian, which I'm not sure most 4th graders would get (or 6th graders, for that matter). The evil nanny (and aren't those always wonderful characters?) is named Miss Barmy and the rodent expert is Professor Capybara. Emmy is the good girl who longs to live her own life and then befriends a talking rat who has his own woes along with a secret power.
Mayhem ensues, the bad are punished, the good rewarded, people grow and shrink as needed for plot purposes, and a good time is had by all. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a fun little romp with an old-fashioned appeal and sometimes I like to dash through a middle school book because it's easy and fun. It's nice to have the excuse of work to read this sort of thing.
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