Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

As I write tonight, I am thinking of how intense it is to be a mother. I hear Fiona upstairs, coughing her little heart out -- well, probably "lungs out" would be a more apt phrase -- and wishing I could really make her well with a kiss and a sing-song chant of "All better!" I'm typing with one hand because the other arm is kept immobile with the delightful weight of Anneliese's soft, curly, slightly sweaty wee head. I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful as her sweet, sleeping form right here by my side. But then, I say that about both my girls -- their smiles, laughs, snores and sniffles included!

When reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH for Dr. Johnson's Elementary Reading / Language Arts C&I class, I came across a sticky left in the book by a former student. On page 47, next to a pen-and-ink drawing of Mrs. Frisby trembling with fear as she talks with the great, hulking crow, this student has written "COURAGE -- knows she has to do what is necessary." I thought when I saw that, "Well, DUH! She's a mother! A mother will do anything for her children, even if that means confconting her deepest fears or laying her very life down for them. Courage, my foot, that's motherhood!"

And, speaking of motherhood, my one typing hand is about to give out and I must draw this to a close. I think, perhaps, I will repeat here what I wrote in my reading journal about Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien (thank goodness for cut-and-paste!)

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Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH tells the story of an unusual group of mice, shrews, birds and rats, and a rather usual cat by the name of Dragon. These rodents are not remarkable simply for their human qualities – speaking English, reading, writing and operating heavy machinery to name a few – but also for the history of the rats. The rats are escaped lab-rats, accelerated in intellect, slowed in aging and launched forward up the ladder of social evolution by the studies of three scientists, Dr. Schultz, George and Julia.

In short, the rats have escaped from the laboratory several years prior to the start of the book in the company of two similarly altered mice and eventually built for themselves a civilized – if seemingly useless – life. This led to unrest within the community and a desire to return to the human “simple life” of living off the land. The alternatives are either continuing to live by stealing from the farmer and his family while dodging the stalking Dragon, or a return to their pre-laboratory lives of living in sewers and dining on less-than-delectable refuse. A small band of rats rejected the Plan and ran off to continue their lives of useless ease, but are accidently electrocuted to death while attempting to purloin a motor from a local hardware store. This accelerates the execution of the Plan for the remaining rat population. As the Plan was underway, my palms were bathed in sweat with the excitement and tension of a well-told story!

All of the above, however, is both a side-story to the supposed central problem of moving the widow of one of the escaped mice, Mrs. Frisby, and her children to a newer, safer location and a story-within-the-story and by far the more exciting of the two. Mrs. Frisby, it turns out, is the widow of one of the two escaped lab mice. The rats move her home in kindness and remembrance of her husband. At end of the book, she tells her children of their heroic father, the story of the rats’ escape and the Plan. However, the reader never learns if the Plan has been a success and, indeed, which of the rats lost their lives in its execution. (I must admit to a cry of “What?! I want to know what happened to the rats!!!” upon finishing the book!)

The book, beyond simply an enjoyable read, is filled with teachable moments which could be selectively employed to great success or, alternatively, used in their entirety to beat the children over the head and kill any possible enjoyment they might find in its pages. Approximately the first third of the book could be an excellent study in perspective, as the author skillfully blends the fantastic – talking mice – with the every day – a home with a comfy living room, beds and blankets. The reader comes to view a cinderblock as a comfy home, a farmer’s plough from a mouse’s point of view and the farm and its surrounds through the eyes of a small mouse as well as those of a perceptive owl. An excellent extension activity would be to take the students to a field, playground or park and ask them to write their observations from the perspective of a mouse, bird, worm, or other slithering, crawling or bounding critter. One could preface this assignment utilizing GoogleEarth and zooming into, for example, the Rio Grande, then panning further and further out until it bears the resemblance of a snake, as seen by Mrs. Frisby from the back of a helpful crow.

Cross-curricular content may also be found. For example, if a high-level group of 4th grade readers were to explore the text describing the toys on page 166, a short distance into chapter “Thorn Valley,” and the scene in which Mrs. Frisby’s home is moved, p. 204, near the end of the chapter “Escape,” this would be an excellent opportunity for students to identify potential and used simple machines. This is included in the third grade SOLs and would be a timely review. Further, since electricity is included in the 4th grade SOLs, this could be noted in the rats’ use of this tool and read in tandem with the electricity unit in Science or serve as a review for 5th graders. In any grade-level, the proper execution of scientific experiments can be reviewed, particularly the importance of independent variables, as described by the experiment undertaken with the rats.

Social awareness could also be fostered through various discussions. On pages 159-161, near the beginning of the chapter “The Toy Tinker,” the rats discover human books which discuss rats, human hatred for the wee beasties, and their place in evolutionary history. What might it feel like to be so reviled? What would it feel like to be a rat? What would it feel like to be running free and happy as, well, a rat in refuse, one moment, and then caged the next? Even if one is treated relatively “well,” what does it do to a person – er, rat – when basic human – er, rodent – freedom is lost? To what lengths will one go to regain this basic dignity? Hmmmm, can you think of a parallel?

I must say that I really enjoyed this book! I can’t believe that I’d neither read it nor seen the movie before. I think I’d probably use this from a high-level 4th grade reading group up to about middle school. There are also quite a few on-line resources for using this book in the classroom. I liked the ideas I found on this website particularly well: http://www.literatureplace.com/bookfolios/bookfolio.asp?BookfolioID=75#Read-aloud%20Recommendation
1. In and Out of Character (Analyzing character behavior)
2. Mrs. Frisby: A Real Heroine (Defining a heroine)
3. Another Epilogue (Creating an epilogue)
4. A Birds-eye View (Drawing a setting)
5. The Nature of Rats (Researching rat behavior) -- defending the rat!
6. A Plan of Action (Planning a garden)