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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of my favorites. I teach it every year in sixth grade.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved the movie and was a little nervous about reading the book! But I really enjoyed it. The ending was a little too ambiguous for me, I need to know and this whole hinting but not telling made the book seem unfinished...even though I'm happy with my interpretation of what happened at the end. Which kind of contradicts the epilogue a little but it’s the way I wanted it to end!
A fine re-read. Newbery award winning and just plain good simple science fiction. Drama. Adventure. Peril. With mice and rats and crows and owls as heroes and cats and people as villains. Simple fast read. And seems to have aged fairly well except maybe around gender roles though if you consider it a period piece its not horrible. And our main pov character is a female mouse. I'd even say that it meets the Bechdel and the Mako Mori test, not that either of those are super high bars.
So, do you know the movie 'Secret of NIMH'? How about this book? They aren't actually the same, you know (snicker...everyone knows the book isn't the same!). Yet still, before I get to sounding too much more snarky, do you ever read a J or a T or YA book and *not* get a message? All right, there's that. So, anyway, this Newberry award winner, your grown up brain may bias it as a tired old title and maybe it is. I thought it was going be. Tired. Still I had fun with it, readings can be easy like that sometimes. Maybe what really got me, besides being more than anthro...it discusses, outright dialogue, mind you, what is conscience, how about ethics, where do individuals fit in that?
What counts for being human? It's a good question, I can't seem to get tired of/
What counts for being human? It's a good question, I can't seem to get tired of/
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A quick re-read of an old favorite! I read this years ago myself, and again when my daughter was little, but before sending it to my nephew I thought I should re-read to see if it stands the test of time. Short answer? It does.
Our expectations of what is "appropriate" in children's literature have definitely changed in the last 50+ years, but this book stands the test of time. It's a gentle story of Mrs. Frisby, whose son Timothy gets pneumonia, leading to a dilemma. He can't go outside because of the illness, but they must move their family from their winter home in a farmer's field to the summer home in the woods. By appealing to their neighbors, the Rats of NIMH, Mrs. Frisby is able to solve the problem and help her new friends.
There are definitely some upper level innuendos that require an adult eye (IE: NIMH stands for "National Institute of Mental Health" and there is medical testing on animals going on within) but even a young child can find an interesting adventure story. There is no blatant violence - Mr. Frisby died before the book begins (we find out later it was from a cat, but there is no detail provided), and late in the book a farmer tells a story of several rats dying who are assumed to be part of the group in the story -- but aside from that it's a "safe" read with appropriate tension, interesting characters, and a nice lesson about caring about those around us and working together as a team.
Our expectations of what is "appropriate" in children's literature have definitely changed in the last 50+ years, but this book stands the test of time. It's a gentle story of Mrs. Frisby, whose son Timothy gets pneumonia, leading to a dilemma. He can't go outside because of the illness, but they must move their family from their winter home in a farmer's field to the summer home in the woods. By appealing to their neighbors, the Rats of NIMH, Mrs. Frisby is able to solve the problem and help her new friends.
There are definitely some upper level innuendos that require an adult eye (IE: NIMH stands for "National Institute of Mental Health" and there is medical testing on animals going on within) but even a young child can find an interesting adventure story. There is no blatant violence - Mr. Frisby died before the book begins (we find out later it was from a cat, but there is no detail provided), and late in the book a farmer tells a story of several rats dying who are assumed to be part of the group in the story -- but aside from that it's a "safe" read with appropriate tension, interesting characters, and a nice lesson about caring about those around us and working together as a team.