Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Robert C. O’Brien’s book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH tells us a story about a desperate mouse family trying to survive on a farm. They have to try not to get their house plowed down by Mr. Fitzgibbon, the farmer. The only problem is that they have to deal with someone who is sick. This is very complicated.

There are many characters in this book. Some are important and some are not. I will tell you about all of the main characters. The first is Mrs. Frisby who is the mother of three. She is very wise and thinks quickly. This is the time when she had to think if she would go put sleeping powder in the cat’s bowl. If she were caught, she would have to pay the ultimate price-her life! She also had to worry about her family and her sick son. She saved his life by making the right decision. Another character is Mr. Ages. He was the Frisby’s doctor. He gave medicine to Mrs. Frisby to help heal her son, Timothy. He was also part of the group of rats. Nicodemus was another character in the story. He was the leader of all the rats and came from NIMH. This was a special laboratory where the rats got smarter. He planned out how to move Mrs. Frisby’s entire house. Another rat that came from NIMH was Justin who was the bravest rat of them all. He saved Brutus’ life from the poison gas and sacrificed his own. He was also smart because he figured out how to get out of the laboratory and free the rats. He was a good friend of Mrs. Frisby.

The entire story revolved around Timothy, Mrs. Frisby’s youngest son. He created the problem of the story. He got a very bad illness. As moving day was coming for the Frisby’s, Timothy could not get out of the house because he was too sick. He hung in there and survived this horrible event.

Many events happened in this story. I will try my best to tell you as many as I can. The first was Timothy Frisby’s sickness. Mrs. Frisby had to take a trip to Mr. Ages (the doctor). He gave Mrs. Frisby medicine that eventually healed Timothy. While on her way back, she met a crow named Jeremy. She saved Jeremy from the cat. Then Mrs. Frisby found out about moving day and that it was coming soon. Jeremy brought her to the wise old owl who told her about the rats and how they would help her move her house. She traveled to the rats’ secret hiding place-the rosebush. She met a rat there named Nicodemus who knew her husband from NIMH. Her husband was one of the few mice that survived the injections in the laboratory.

Nicodemus and the other rats told her about their plan to move their home to Thorn Valley. Mrs. Frisby then told them about her problem with the plow that was about to destroy her house. Later that night, the rats moved Mrs. Frisby’s house behind a rock to protect it from the plow.
When the task was completed, another problem occurred. The doctors from NIMH were going to spray poison gas in the rosebush where the rats lived. They made an escape plan, but not all survived. Justin had died from trying to save Brutus’ life. Mrs. Frisby was really sad for Justin and hoped the rats’ new life in the Thorn Valley was great.

This story was a really exciting one to read. I would recommend this to other kids especially if they wanted to read about action and adventure.

This story is for children from 8 and up. It may be difficult, yet for these children, to interpret the adjectives and the description of the scene and the characters. There are few pictures in this book, usually in the beginning of the chapters.