Albert Marrin went to visit his dad at work at a construction site when he was little, and while he was playing at the site, he encountered a rat. It scared him so much that he ran all the way back to his dad, screaming and crying and falling down over and over again. After his terrible experience, Albert decided to overcome his fear by learning as much as he could about rats (it’s helped…a little), and his research is presented in Oh Rats! – a collection of rat facts and stories. You’ll learn all about these resilient rodents – how they’ve managed to survive all of these years and about their relationship with humans. Fascinating and horrifying at times, this book will keep your attention from start to finish. The rat illustrations (by C.B. Mordan) are rather creepy – they look almost woodcut, in black and white with red and pink accents for eyes, feet, and ears. *shiver*

Did you know? A “king rat” is a bunch of rats that have gotten their tails tangled together in a knot that they can’t work out (often caked with dried feces). The rats in the tangle will die unless other rats feed them – something that the very social rat communities will often do. To learn more about rats, read Oh Rats!

I told people at work all about this book - every rat fact I could remember, and they were deliciously grossed out by it. If I were a 5th grade boy, I'd feel completely triumphant in my new found power to horrify and disgust. *channels her inner 5th grade boy*