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Rat's Christmas Party
Mean Rat does his best to spoil the other animals' Christmas.
- GenresChristmas
32 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1985
3 people want to read
About the author
Dick Gackenbach
82 books9 followersDick Gackenbach, the illustrator of all the Adam Joshua Capers, is also the author-illustrator of more than a score of books of his own. Mr. Gackenbach lives in Washington Depot, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 1, 2020
Rat tries to ruin Christmas for the other animals by hijacking Mouse’s Christmas party.
Having been raised to be mean, Rat bullies the other woodland animals. One Christmas Eve he determines to mar the celebrations of others. He kidnaps Mouse and forces Mouse's friends to attend a Christmas party at his house through threats.
When his own meanness works against him, the other animals seize the opportunity and turn the tables, getting the better of him. It seems that all's well that ends well. The friends' evening wasn't ruined after all, and they head back to Mouse's house to celebrate together. Leaving Rat in a bind from which he will presumably be able to free himself.
The story ends with the suggestion that the other animals will stand up to Rat in the future and that Rat may change his ways. But the resolution isn't as happy as is usual with Christmas stories.
Rereading this book as an adult, I'm hard-pressed to say why I enjoyed it so much as a child. The older I get the harder it is for me to witness unkindness. I felt very sad reading it, seeing both the abuse inflicted on Rat as a child by his parents and the suffering grown-up Rat inflicts upon others. Rat is stopped ... at least for the moment. But he was neutralized rather than having a change of heart. So, the future is uncertain.
Having been raised to be mean, Rat bullies the other woodland animals. One Christmas Eve he determines to mar the celebrations of others. He kidnaps Mouse and forces Mouse's friends to attend a Christmas party at his house through threats.
When his own meanness works against him, the other animals seize the opportunity and turn the tables, getting the better of him. It seems that all's well that ends well. The friends' evening wasn't ruined after all, and they head back to Mouse's house to celebrate together. Leaving Rat in a bind from which he will presumably be able to free himself.
The story ends with the suggestion that the other animals will stand up to Rat in the future and that Rat may change his ways. But the resolution isn't as happy as is usual with Christmas stories.
Rereading this book as an adult, I'm hard-pressed to say why I enjoyed it so much as a child. The older I get the harder it is for me to witness unkindness. I felt very sad reading it, seeing both the abuse inflicted on Rat as a child by his parents and the suffering grown-up Rat inflicts upon others. Rat is stopped ... at least for the moment. But he was neutralized rather than having a change of heart. So, the future is uncertain.
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December 14, 2011I don't know why my sister and I liked this book so much. It was my favorite Christmas book as a kid. Maybe I wanted to act like Rat, or maybe I felt better by comparison.
August 27, 2022
I don't know why I love this book so much, but I do. My grandma gave my family an illegally photocopied version of this book in a Christmas package when I was 5. To this day (20 years later), I think about this story every Christmas season. Most individuals love their traditional Christmas stories like The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, The Night Before Christmas, etc., but for me, it is always this book. It sticks with you forever.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews