oneangrylibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
So, I really thought I was going to like this book a lot more. It was just okay. The art in the book felt very old and dated and the story felt so rehashed that I was predicting every surprise before it happened. I think my students will enjoy it and it is a quick and easy read. I just found it to be such a middle ground book that I wasn't excited about most of it. For a Bluebonnet book, I was not impressed.
froggylibrarian1's review against another edition
5.0
How can you go wrong with a spork in the scone??? Really... This was a cute read about Joey who gets turned into a rat by Gondorff in order to deliver a message to the rat king and help save the kingdom of Ravalon from Salaman. The length was good - 170 pages, it was funny ("at least we now know what we know. And he doesn't know what we now know), and even though it was the start of a series it had a good ending. This was a fun read...
britomarte's review against another edition
4.0
Not all of the references worked for me, and I wish there had been more about the uncle. Other than that, quite liked it.
thistlechaser's review against another edition
2.0
The best thing about this book was the cover. It was a cute story: a boy meets a ratician (a rat who is a magician) and is given a quest. To accomplish the quest, the ratician turns him into a rat.
Problem was, this was a story for very young kids, and the writing style was too simple for me to enjoy. DNF
Problem was, this was a story for very young kids, and the writing style was too simple for me to enjoy. DNF
curiosityp's review against another edition
5.0
My review can be found at: http://overflowingbookshelves.blogspot.ca/2015/06/warning-proliferation-of-exclamation.html
saraleoni's review against another edition
4.0
Fairly clever children's mash-up of the Arthurian legend and middle earth.
theybedax's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty darn adorable reinterpretation of a classic tale. Behold the magical spork, "Ratscalibur!"
sue_from_stack_those_books's review against another edition
5.0
Listened to this with the kids during commute. This kept their attention and they even asked to listen when getting in the car. Many interesting characters. Loved the idea of simple objects being weapons for other creatures. Magic in many forms along with many different animals and a boy turned rat is a great read for boys and girls and parents as well.
scostner's review against another edition
4.0
"The Spork in the Scone!" "He's drawn the Spork from the Scone!" And that's how Joey becomes a hero. Okay, maybe the explanation should start a little earlier than that event. Joey is a boy who has just moved into the city with his mother, because she is starting a new job. So far, he is not very impressed with the garbage on the sidewalks and the bars on the apartment windows. His Uncle Patrick comes to visit and brings Joey a pet rat. What they don't realize is that the rat is actually Gondorff the Gray, a powerful ragician who turns Joey into a rat and sends him on a mission.
It seems that -agic exists among many of the species on Earth. Mankind has magic and magicians. Rats have ragic and ragicians. Squirrels have squagic and squagicians. You get the idea. Gondorff sends Joey back to the kingdom of Ravalon with a message for King Uther that his quest to reach Squirrelin and ask for his aid against the evil Salaman has failed. And when Joey actually reaches the court, no one will listen to him until he draws Ratscalibur.
So, if you enjoy stories like Redwall, Warriors, or The Tale of Despereaux, or the idea of Camelot retold with rats sounds entertaining, then you should read this book. I had fun just looking for all the names from other famous stories that showed up in slightly different versions like Gondorff, Ratscalibur, Parsifur, etc. This is a great middle grades fantasy adventure with plenty of action, humor, and pizza crusts.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
It seems that -agic exists among many of the species on Earth. Mankind has magic and magicians. Rats have ragic and ragicians. Squirrels have squagic and squagicians. You get the idea. Gondorff sends Joey back to the kingdom of Ravalon with a message for King Uther that his quest to reach Squirrelin and ask for his aid against the evil Salaman has failed. And when Joey actually reaches the court, no one will listen to him until he draws Ratscalibur.
So, if you enjoy stories like Redwall, Warriors, or The Tale of Despereaux, or the idea of Camelot retold with rats sounds entertaining, then you should read this book. I had fun just looking for all the names from other famous stories that showed up in slightly different versions like Gondorff, Ratscalibur, Parsifur, etc. This is a great middle grades fantasy adventure with plenty of action, humor, and pizza crusts.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.