Bookworms: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (’71) by O’Brien

“Go to the rats.” – a piece of good advice

Inspired by the work of a real scientist, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien is a fantastical piece of juvenile fiction about a little mouse and her connection to a society of highly intelligent rats.

This timeless classic of children’s literature was a favorite of mine as I was growing up, ever since I found it on the shelf at the library. I was curious if it would still stand up as a delightful and engrossing story.

The protagonist is a small field mouse named Mrs. Frisby who has a problem: her child Timothy is sick and cannot make the trek to their summer house, but their winter house is in danger from the local human’s plow. What ever shall she do? After seeking advice from several helpful animals, she ends up beneath a rose bush talking to some highly unusual rats. The rats agree to help her, and in the process reveal their true nature as genetically engineered subjects of laboratory experiments.

I was surprised to find that the story and the characters still held up after all this time. I haven’t read the book in years, and now that I am a full fledged “adult” I didn’t know if I would respond to it the same way. I guess being young at heart has something to do with my continued enthusiasm for Mrs. Frisby, but I was pulled into her plight and the story of the rats of NIMH as if this were my first time reading the story.

Robert C. O’Brien does a great job of world building, and even though he borrows heavily from our world, his is a creative and unique vision of animals working and living on the fringes of human culture. Each character is fully rounded out, and the reader genuinely finds themselves caring about the various animals presented in the story, from Mrs. Frisby to Mr. Ages and Nicodemus and Justin. I found myself, just as I did when I was a kid, wanting to know more about the rats of NIMH. I still want to find their home and see if we can communicate and see if they are still living independently as was their dream. To me, this is the mark of a great story: do you want to meet the characters and inhabit their world? With Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, I truly do.

And, despite this book being written in 1971, it has a timeless nature to it. There are few cultural or temporal markers to place this book in the 70’s, and as such it was just as accessible in 2014 as it was in 1972 when it won the Newberry Medal, which is a literary prize for a book that contributes meaningfully to children’s literature. For children of all ages, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a book to enjoy over and over again. I know I have enjoyed it for years, and will for years to come.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM was adapted as an animated film in 1982 called the Secret of NIHM.

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