Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

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Don't even get me started on the topic of rats. I'd rather face a Tyrannosaurus rex than a rat, and I'm not kidding). Jeremy arrives at 5, and he meets her family. He flies her to the Owl, but she is terrified the whole time. She enters the Owl's nest, and she tells him her problem. Ahoy there me mateys! Here I take a second look at a previously enjoyed novel and give me crew me second reflections, as it were, upon visitin' it again . . . This book is great children’s literature, of the sort that is rarely seen today. Mr. O’Brien teaches the concepts of true heroism, of doing brave things when you are terrified, of sacrificing oneself for others. He includes the concepts of self-betterment through learning, and of the comfort of being loved. How friendships are forged. How communities are built.

Still, it seemed to us that the main reason we were hated must be that we always lived by stealing. From the earliest times, rats lived around the edges of human cities and farms, stowed away on men's ships, gnawed holes in their floors and stole their food. Sometimes we were accused of biting human children; I didn't believe that, nor did any of us⎼unless it was some kind of a subnormal rat, bred in the worst of city slums. And that, of course, can happen to people, too.” The Doomed Mouse Utopia That Inspired the 'Rats of NIMH' - Dr. John Bumpass Calhoun spent the '60s and '70s playing god to thousands of rodentsMrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH won numerous awards including the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, Newbery Medal, and the runner-up National Book Award in 1972; the Mark Twain Award in 1973; the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers' Choice Award and the William Allan White Children's Book Award in 1974. [3] Impact on American views of scientific technology [ edit ] the concept of a colony of rats working together with a little old lady mouse to go on summer vacation: fantastic, whimsical, a childhood-defining masterpiece Another subject in which more information was brought to light was that of Jenner. In the first book it was hinted that Jenner had died, but in an event prior to those of the book. Jenner had disagreed with Nicodemus over leaving the city, and took a group of separatists to start a new colony. In the end of the first book, it is revealed that NIMH had found a number of unusual rats dead, and it is assumed that this is Jenner's group.

Frisby discovers that the rats have a literate and mechanized society. They have technology such as elevators, have tapped the electricity grid to provide lighting and heating, and have acquired other human skills, such as storing food for the winter. Their leader, Nicodemus, tells Frisby of the rats' capture by scientists working for a laboratory located at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the experiments that were performed on the rats, which increased the rats' intelligence to the point of being able to read, write and operate complicated machines, as well as enhancing their longevity and strength. Their increased intelligence and strength allowed them to escape from NIMH and migrate to their present location on the farm. Jonathan and Ages were the only two survivors of a group of eight mice who had been part of the experiments at NIMH and made the rats' escape possible. Life in Thorn Valley is suddenly threatened when humans begin planning to build a dam there, which will flood most of Thorn Valley and destroy the rats' colony. The rats set a complex plan into motion to reprogram the developers' computers and sabotage the project. Between 1989 and 1990, I took some additional college courses in hopes of getting a teaching certificate. That all went for naught when we moved to California. I did take three courses at The College of William and Mary that I loved, and I'm grateful I had the opportunity to experience. Help comes in the unexpected form of a highly extraordinary breed of super-intelligent rats. The rats of NIMH come up with a brilliant solution to Mrs Frisby's problem but the rats are in danger too, and little by little Mrs Frisby discovers their extraordinary past . . .Chapters 7 & 8: At first the owl is reluctant to help Mrs. Frisby until he finds out that she is the widow of Johnathan Frisby. The owl suggests she seek help from the rats that live under the rose bush. Chapters 9 - 13 I saw “ The Secret Of Nimh” at a birthday sleepover party. If it was in grade 6, I was 11 years-old; sensitive enough to have compassion for sad elements and still a baby to be spooked by dark moments. It is this August that I finally read Robert C. O’Brien’s original book 38 years later. I afterwards watched my videotape with my spouse. We were touched but not blown away. It changed in fundamental ways from the storybook, which is unforgettable. We happen to be in the birthday party week-end of my 49th year, this November 2021!