Rats Rule

If you just came across the title of this book, glanced at the cover, and maybe read a sentence or two about it, you might think it was the sort of treacly children's story that would be made into a second-rate, straight-to-video animated movie. Sure, it might appeal to the preschool set, but not to you or your sophisticated 3rd-grader. But if you thought this, you'd be making a mistake.

"Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" starts out simply enough: A widowed mouse asks some rats for help. However, these aren't just any rats. They're escapees from a research lab called NIMH (presumably, the National Institute for Mental Health), where they were the subject of an experiment to improve their intelligence. This is as interesting a premise as any science fiction story, and it makes for great reading.

"Mrs. Frisby" may not appeal to most adults the way, say, the "Harry Potter" books do, but I certainly enjoyed it. And when the 3rd-grade teacher at my son's school read it aloud in school, the kids were enchanted.

Incidentally, the book *was* made into an animated movie, titled "The Secret of NIMH." Hardly a cheap production, it was directed by master animator Don Bluth.