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Pirats: A Tale of Mutiny on the High Seas

Rip and her two sisters, Lu and Preen, survived storms and conflict on the voyage to Jamaica. But trouble is on the horizon when they meet a crew who are not what they seem...


Stranded on a strange vessel, can Rip adapt to life on a pirate ship escaping the shadow of the slave trade, save the rats on board and find a way back to her family?


To do so, she will have to become a Pirat!


Sequel to the Wishing Shelf Award-winning Ship Rats. Profits go to the APOPO HeroRATs anti land-mine organisation.

ebook

Published May 19, 2018

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About the author

Rhian Waller

11 books38 followers

Rhian spends a lot of her time lost (in thought, in books, in general).

She has had numerous short stories and poems published in zines.

Her first book, Eithe's Way, won the Write Factor Shortlist award and was published by the Write Factor in 2013.

Ship Rats, her first children's book and part one of the Rat Tales Trilogy, was self-published to raise funds for APOPO HeroRATs. It won the Gold Wishing Shelf award for the 5-8 age category for 2017.

Collectively, the trilogy has raised more than £1,500 for the organisation.

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5 stars
18 (58%)
4 stars
9 (29%)
3 stars
4 (12%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Kat.
Author 16 books631 followers
May 27, 2020
Join Rip and her friends as they sail aboard a pirate ship around the world! The Liberte, captained by a female pirate (because, awesome) is sailing the seven seas and Rip is aboard for the ride, along with a few of her rat friends. But when the pirates capture another vessel and take on a LOT of new rats, things get super squeaky.

This was a great read with a wonderful mix of good messages (our pirates certainly aren’t perfect—they are plundering after all, however we find out they err more on the side of the good guys when they make a surprise discovery in the hold of a ship) and rat adventures. Full of sailing lore young readers will love like sea chantys, close encounters with icebergs, mutinies and races to escape enemy vessels, the rat adventures also take center stage. And for every animal lover, you will enjoy the comedic rat scenes, whether it’s Rip’s exaggeration at the threat of being adoringly groomed until her fur falls out in patches, or the pile of rats chewing through the hammock they were sleeping in (my guinea pig’s favorite game.) A delightful addition to this great series.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
Profile Image for E.M. Swift-Hook.
Author 49 books204 followers
October 26, 2018
The Rats Are Back!

”We are pi-rats,” said Peg, proudly. “We are free! We roam the seas. We take what we want. We do as we please.”

Rip is having another adventure aboard ship. This time she find herself becoming a ‘pi-rat’. Alongside all kinds of nautical issues, she has to deal with rescuing rats from a sinking ship and trying to protect them from the Bigs. Meanwhile, we learn more about the young girl Runa who is also having an adventure filled life and has to make some very difficult decisions.

I have to admit it, I love these books. They are not anodyne and sweet stories about talking rats, they are stories which have a lot of powerful messages and are not afraid to push into uncomfortables places. Excellent stories for children to read alone or to have read to them - and then discussed.

"Go be a ship rat," he said. "Eat good food, run and play, have fun. Time will heal this."

What I Really Liked:
The characters. The rats and the humans are all well depicted, highly engaging and bring the story to life.
The believability of the rats. These are ‘real’ rats with real rat behaviour, not cartoon ones prancing around wearing clothes or whatever. As someone who loves rats, I really appreciated the well detailed rat like behaviour.
The unexpected twists in the story. Not at all predictable but all very logical.
The pace. Maintained well throughout. Lots of page-turning action and excitement.

’Had Captain Blanche killed people just for that piece of paper?’

What I Struggled With:
One or two times in the book I felt a little uneasy with the sense that the piratical actions were being condoned. Overall the presentation of the reason the pirates had become so rang true, but I am not sure it excused their behaviour entirely. In a book aimed at children I was not altogether happy with this message, although in a ‘read together’ setting it opens the door for some discussion on the topic in a very effective way.
The way the story moved between Rip and The Bigs - and between Able and Runa - was sometimes done in a manner that was abrupt and could be momentarily confusing.

Overall:
A great read for children, ideally with a parent.

Star Rating: 4.5

Who Would Enjoy this Book:
I think most children around 6-9 would really enjoy this book - but I would recommend reading Ship Rats first as that is both an equally excellent book and a great introduction to all the characters.
Profile Image for Scott Spotson.
Author 18 books108 followers
November 21, 2018
Much better than the first book as it had more thrilling and emotional moments. The author is daring as this is not an usual story line for kids nowadays (i.e. haunted house, newly discovered super powers, middle school hijinks, wizards, ninjas, etc). I haven't seen the film yet, but this could carve out a niche like Ratatouille.

Profile Image for Nadishka Aloysius.
Author 25 books72 followers
November 25, 2018
I am not a lover of rats. However the author has managed to make them 'almost human' and quite likeable. Although this is the second book, I did not have any problems understanding the story.
The tale is narrated from the point-of-view of both the humans (known as BIGS) and the rats. This keeps the action moving and prevents monotony. The main rat is Rip, an adventurous, spunky doe who takes on many challenges from finding herself in new territory, to becoming a respected leader. The pirates in this story are actually runaway slaves (not the real blood thirsty type) so you feel some sympathy for them and cheer them on to some extent. The story was very well constructed with many peaks in the plot that made it a real page turner.
There was some interesting information at the end about rats - especially the HeroRATs of APOPO - which I found quite fascinating. The glossaries at the end that explain Ship terms and Rat terms were also very helpful.
I am giving this four stars for two reasons. The first is that there are SO many rat characters that it becomes a little difficult to keep track of them all. Also, seeing the long lists of names at the very beginning of the book was a little off-putting. The second is that I did not like the character of Runa, who came across as very naive.
Nevertheless, a really good tale for middle graders that will educate and entertain.
Profile Image for Die Booth.
Author 55 books45 followers
July 20, 2018
Pirats is the sequel to Ship Rats and the second book in a trilogy of tales. Again, this is a lovely, skillfully told tale, that follows the adventures of three sister rats who get lost at sea. In this installment, the trio find themselves aboard a pirate ship. I personally enjoyed this even more than Ship Rats -perhaps because, even though this is still clearly an excellent children's book, there are more adult themes present. The pirat(e)s - whilst on the whole rather friendly - are more historically realistic than your average 'yo ho ho, bottle of grog' storybook crew. Again, the historical details and settings are fascinating and clearly painstakingly researched, whilst always remaining accessibly written for children. There are some wonderful new characters in this - rats and humans alike - but I particularly loved the lady pirate captains. The themes explored - courage and belonging - will resonate with readers of all ages. I would have loved this book as a child, and I really enjoyed it as an adult - would highly recommend.
Profile Image for Mary Kincaid.
Author 12 books30 followers
September 20, 2018
This is the story of a rat named Rip who learns how to lead among the rats on a ship. She studies other rats and practices rat culture that she teaches to the other rats on board. She becomes friends with a human boy and works to the benefit of everyone in her orbit. A series of adventures make her a rescuer and demonstrate the story’s premise that rats are more than people imagine.

I give this story three stars.
Profile Image for Andrew Gracey.
Author 2 books27 followers
July 7, 2020
Pi-rats: A Tale of Mutiny on the High Seas is a quick, fun, and easy read that is suitable for Big bigs and little Bigs alike. I do not normally read children’s literature, however, there was something enticing about this book which made me pick it up the moment I saw the cover. Needless to say, I am so happy I gave it a go.

Rhian Waller’s writing style may seem a little simple in its composition but it is extremely effective. She gets her point across well and moves the plot along at a suitable pace, switching from one scene to the other with great care. I also enjoyed the creative language which she used, with the word ‘ritten’ being a personal favorite.

I also greatly enjoyed the storytelling from the POV of a rat. Rip, a brave and adventurous rat forced to adopt a pi-rat’s life on a merchant ship, was an interesting and refreshing character to read. I enjoyed her transformation into the leader of the pi-rats and seeing how her obligations to her family meant that she never forgot her kree, no matter how dire the situation she found herself in became. There were a lot of humorous moments following Rip too, and I enjoyed reading about how she could sense feelings (i.e. ‘he smelled anxious’). This is something that cannot be done when following human protagonists and was a particular quirk of Waller’s storytelling that I liked.

The storyline of the two Bigs is just as interesting, even if it comes secondary to the life of the Pi-rats. I liked how Runa and Abel’s stories ran parallel to Rip’s and how they looked to each other for comfort when the going got tough. Their journeys play-off one another perfectly, with their stories closely intertwined.

The only minor gripe I have (and it is minor) was that on two occasions I couldn’t work out who we were following. This I think was due to some sentences starting with ‘She’ when either Rip/Runa would have been my preferred choice. I was able to correct it in my mind by reading further, however, and it did not affect how I feel about the book.

To me, this book has the same charm and imagination as a Disney movie. From the off my mind conjured animated rats carrying out these adventures. I cannot wait to see what the Pi-rats get up to next on their adventures.
Profile Image for Brian Michaud.
Author 2 books27 followers
November 21, 2018
Waller weaves a delightful tale about the bond between rats and humans, intertwining the destinies of a pair of children, Runa and Abel, and an ingenious rat, Rip.

Runa sets sail on the Hydromyst, bound for her home country of Sweden. She is reluctant to leave her father and the Caribbean Sea to return to a life of needlework and deportment. Not long after the voyage begins, pirates capture her ship. Desiring a life more adventurous than what awaits her back in Sweden, Runa joins the pirate crew.

While this is happening, we learn of the lives of the rats aboard the ship. When the pirates capture the Hydromyst, Rip battles and defeats the leader of the pi-rats (totally loved this play on words). Rip becomes the leader of the pi-rats, but she soon finds that being a leader comes with more problems than she ever expected.

What I felt was unique about this story was that, though the humans and rats were experiencing parallel events, Waller does not take the much-used road of having the animals help the humans fulfil their destiny. Instead, the rats have their own agenda. They are concerned about their own survival, hopes, and dreams. Though some of the humans have bonded with a few of the rats, they are two different cultures simply sharing a common habitat.

Although this was the second book in the series and I had not read the first book, I did not feel at a loss for any information. Waller does a fantastic job of getting the reader up to speed without giving any spoilers from the first book. In fact, she gave just enough information to make me add book one to my “must read” list.
Profile Image for Cathleen Townsend.
Author 11 books64 followers
August 27, 2018
Pirats, a Tale of Mutiny on the High Seas, tells the adventures of Rip, a female (doe) rat who ends up on a pirate ship when her ship is attacked. Her only real concern is getting back to her ship until she and the pirate ship’s pi-rats rescue rats from a sinking ship. Then she has to deal with becoming a leader and keeping the other rats from angering the humans (bigs), so they don’t start killing the rats.

This is a children’s book, and as such, an accurate presentation of pirate life wouldn’t have been appropriate. There were no desperate, kill-or-be-killed scenes. It did include some interesting geography as the pirates sailed to different ports, but that was the extent of the realism.

It was vividly written, with sensory details that made the story come alive. Other than giving pirates a much more positive depiction than they deserve (pirates kill people and steal from them), my biggest qualms came with the number of different names and characters introduced at various times, making it hard to follow. Also, the lack of either indented paragraphs or white space between paragraphs made it very difficult to read. Unless the formatting is fixed, I would recommend it only as a book to be read aloud to children, rather than one they can read themselves.
Profile Image for Helen Mathey-Horn.
Author 11 books104 followers
November 29, 2018
This was a very cute tale of Rip, a brown rat who sets off on an all-consuming adventure. In this story, the main characters are the rats of the ship. The "Bigs", or humans, just add a little more character to the story. This tale starts out with Rip and her two rat sisters enjoying their life aboard Hydromyst. This is part 2 of the series, but I can assure you that you do not need to read the first one to enjoy this as well. Adventures and mayhem find Rip as she tries to live her day to day life. All in all it was a great read and a different aspect of normal pirate stories. I really enjoyed that the story was in the aspect of the rat which is not normally a position anyone wants to read from. I really started to enjoy their bonding but wished some way the Bigs they had special relationships with, could somehow understand them. I recommend reading this story, you won't be sorry.
8 reviews
June 2, 2019
Pirats is the second in the trilogy describing the continued adventures and antics of three rat-sisters at sea. I don’t generally read kids’ books, but thoroughly enjoyed the book because of its fast-paced action and most endearing rattie characters. I consider it an ideal book for children from about five to early teen. It will be especially popular with children who enjoy cute animal stories. (My daughter, aged 12 enjoyed it immensely.)
The book accurately portrays many of the endearing characteristics portrayed by these much-maligned little creatures and contains many good moral values to which young (and old) readers may aspire, such as courage, tenacity and emotional intelligence (to name but a few). The author’s generosity is especially commendable in that the proceeds from the sales of this book go towards APOPO, an organisation that trains giant Gambian pouched rats to sniff out landmines and detect TB.
Profile Image for James George.
Author 7 books105 followers
May 17, 2020
"Pirats- A Tale of Mutiny on the High Seas" is terrific fun for young readers. Kids who are growing out of picture books and need to be challenged with more prose and more characters will delight in this tale about lovable rats caught up in a high-seas adventure.

This book is part of a series, but the reader will have no difficulty jumping right into the action if this is the only installment they read. The characters are distinctive and enjoyable, and the generous double-space format will be appreciated by up-and-coming readers.

I liked the illustrations, and thought the book would benefit from maybe three or four more. Additionally, the book is a nice length for the target age group.

Rhiann Waller is establishing herself as an impressive children's author, and parents seeking adventurous books for their young readers should definitely check out her work.

Profile Image for D. Peach.
Author 24 books177 followers
August 11, 2019
I loved this book. It’s told primarily from the point of view of Rip, a rat on a pirate ship. Appropriate for young children, no one gets hurt beyond a bite. Chapters are short and full of action as well as humor, loyalty, and kindness. Two children (Bigs) are the rats’ friends and take part in saving the day.

I could easily see reading the story to my 6-year-0ld grandson as a chapter book with some clarification of terms. Waller does provide a glossary in the back matter for unfamiliar sea-faring words and there are a handful of adorable illustrations.

The only challenge with the book is its formatting on Kindle. There are no indentations or spaces between paragraphs to break up the single giant block of text. A great read regardless, but for that reason, I rated it 4 stars.
Profile Image for Eunice Nascimento.
Author 9 books31 followers
September 9, 2018
A well-written story of friendship and courage!

Pirats: A Tale of Mutiny on the High Seas, is a well-written story of friendship and courage for young readers. It's filled with sea adventures, lots of action, moments of bravery, daring battles and rescues.

I fell in love with Rip, the main character, who is a loveable, kind but strong and heroic rat. I highly recommend this book to young readers and anyone who enjoys fast-paced stories about ships, pirates and sailing across the world.
Profile Image for Erinn Price.
Author 4 books9 followers
December 6, 2018
Adventure for children.
I am not a big fan of rats, but that is a personal phobia and nothing against the author. On the contrary even with my phobia against rats I enjoyed this story and think it would make a perfect animation series for kids. The characters are like-able, have full emotions and reactions. The world created is vivid and extensive and involves many sub-characters. That said I would suggest the book is read out loud to children and not left for them to read themselves. Sometimes the reading got heavy and kids would enjoy it more hearing it.
3 reviews
June 2, 2019
As rated by Tania, age 12:
Pirats is my favorite book! Three sisters, Lu, Rip and Preen are on their way home after a year of travelling. A merchant moves in and is very mysterious. He longs for old things and collects stuff. I loved this story; I imagined it as a movie. At the end I got really sad and cried because this story felt amazing and I didn’t want it to end. The rats in the story reminded me of my three rat sisters at home. This book is amazing, if you love rats and adventures this book is for you.
Profile Image for S.D..
Author 26 books27 followers
September 27, 2019
This is such a fun series. What kid, even an older one like myself, wouldn't love the rollicking adventures of rats on the high seas? Rip, our heroine, finds herself thrust into the role of leader when their ship is invaded by pyrites and pi-rats—human and rat. This disturbs the delicate symbiotic balance between the rats and the sailors. This is the second in the three-book series but it is a standalone story. I also enjoyed reading the "after notes" about the medical work rats are doing in Africa.
Profile Image for Emma Price.
211 reviews6 followers
July 20, 2018
Waller’s second book in her Rat Tales Trilogy has just as many exciting adventures as book number one. The Rats story and the ‘Bigs’ story happen parallel to each other. I like this style of writing because it makes the high seas escapades come alive. Waller has created dynamic main characters who are brave, kind-hearted, friendly, and problem solvers; both rats and humans. I recommend this book to all who loves to read books about flamboyant life of pirates on the high seas.
Profile Image for Phillip Vega.
Author 6 books42 followers
September 23, 2018
Pirats is an instant children's classic!! I loved Pirats, a Tale of Mutiny on the High Seas! From the start of the novel, the story draws the reader in. If you're looking for an entertaining adventure on the high seas, then run out and pick up this future classic immediately!! I highly recommend it!!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews