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Cover of I Was a Rat! by Philip Pullman I Was a Rat!Philip Pullman

I Was a Rat!

by Philip Pullman

Ages 8–11 Reading age 9 Short chapters Set in somewhere magical funnywry

An old cobbler and his wife take in a boy who insists he used to be a rat. The newspapers, the palace and a pie shop all take an interest.

A story about children and a grown-up hero, funny and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 8–11, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.

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