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The Tale of The Swamp Rat
Guided by an ancient alligator, a silent young rat learns to find his own way in the drought-stricken swamp, despite having been orphaned under circumstances that sometimes cause other animals to reject him.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 16, 2019
There are certain books that completely suck me into the story, and dear god is this one of them. I like the way it was written, even if it’s unconventional, it adds to the setting and theme(?). And charm just oozes out of it, especially the characters. I love the characters. Very cool.
May 24, 2017
I loved this book. The characters are lovable, it has a great story, and it's a great way to reach young readers and teach them concepts of ecology. it's especially geared toward the ecology of swamp ecosystems (as the name suggests).
June 11, 2019
Read this growing up and forgot I had it. I absolutely enjoyed this. It is one that I actually started to reread but never finished.
April 22, 2025
I read this to my son when he was 8. We loved this book then, and I love it now, after reading it again 10 years later.
July 20, 2016
I found that Swamp Rat has a similar spirit to Brian Jacques's Redwall series, but the storytelling has a dream-like flow that made it difficult for me to go through those handful of years ago when I first borrowed the book from a friend.
I picked it up again because I am challenging myself this year to read books that I am not immediately inclined to. This was a book that was definitely worth the sit down.
In summary: the story takes place in a swamp (of course) and it is narrated to the readers by a character called Little Mole, who occasionally breaks the fourth-wall to pepper his narrative with little side comments, usually about his sources as he claims that "every bit of this story is almost true".
The titular rat is Ossie, an introvert character after my own heart. He doesn't talk for a good third of the book but this is fine because the story is also about the swamp itself. We follow Ossie through four seasons in the swamp, during which he loses his family to a snake, meets and befriends the oldest gator alive, finds his voice, and battles the forces of nature... among other things.
Interesting things to note:
The language used in this book has a very southern flavor, which made it tempting to read aloud.
The swamp is sometimes treated/talked about as if it were a living creature. I liked that; the different perspective lent well to the fact that most of the characters are animals.
The book enters into an interesting individual vs society theme when Ossie meets up with a community of swamp creatures. How it unfolds, progresses and ends was one of my favorite things about Swamp Rat.
In conclusion: I think this is a good book to read just before getting to bed. For all it's relaxed pace, Swamp Rat has a lot of thoughtful passages that are better appreciated if digested rather than breezed through.
I picked it up again because I am challenging myself this year to read books that I am not immediately inclined to. This was a book that was definitely worth the sit down.
In summary: the story takes place in a swamp (of course) and it is narrated to the readers by a character called Little Mole, who occasionally breaks the fourth-wall to pepper his narrative with little side comments, usually about his sources as he claims that "every bit of this story is almost true".
The titular rat is Ossie, an introvert character after my own heart. He doesn't talk for a good third of the book but this is fine because the story is also about the swamp itself. We follow Ossie through four seasons in the swamp, during which he loses his family to a snake, meets and befriends the oldest gator alive, finds his voice, and battles the forces of nature... among other things.
Interesting things to note:
The language used in this book has a very southern flavor, which made it tempting to read aloud.
The swamp is sometimes treated/talked about as if it were a living creature. I liked that; the different perspective lent well to the fact that most of the characters are animals.
The book enters into an interesting individual vs society theme when Ossie meets up with a community of swamp creatures. How it unfolds, progresses and ends was one of my favorite things about Swamp Rat.
In conclusion: I think this is a good book to read just before getting to bed. For all it's relaxed pace, Swamp Rat has a lot of thoughtful passages that are better appreciated if digested rather than breezed through.
March 5, 2015
My memory is a little fuzzy but, one thing I do know is that: this book was the first big book I read. What I mean by big book is that, I read this back when I was a little kid in elementary school. I read tones of books even back then: Nate the Great, The A to Z Mysteries, The Jigsaw Jones books, the Who Was books, and many others. Including this one I tried to read but, every time I took it out, I always end up barely through the beginning or never reading it at all. Looking back at it now, it's kinda funny. I hope to find it again and TRY finishing it this time. Anyway, this book was my first big book because the pages were longer, the book was longer, and it took a longer to finish. But, it was a great book as far as I remember. And I hope the people and kids who read it will like it too. So I recommend this book to kids and adults of all ages. Enjoy :)
P.S. I read this book back when I was a kid. So ignore the date.
P.S. I read this book back when I was a kid. So ignore the date.
December 23, 2021
I read this book in my childhood and distinctly remember it as a "landmark book" - an atypical and outstanding book among the children's books available to me, of which many were too simple, mundane and uninteresting.
This well-written book was highly immersive and I highly enjoyed the experience of it, like listening to a tale or a dream of a faraway place. I loved the array of characters and how the main character grew and changed over time, in particular. Huge love too for the messages and themes explored through this book, such as of living on and finding yourself, the bonds between people/animals and the appreciation, intricacy and beauty of Nature.
I still think about the book, Ossie, Uncle Will and the Swamp, from time to time. And I'm grateful to my younger self for having pestered my family to buy this book for me, all those years ago at the bookstore.
This well-written book was highly immersive and I highly enjoyed the experience of it, like listening to a tale or a dream of a faraway place. I loved the array of characters and how the main character grew and changed over time, in particular. Huge love too for the messages and themes explored through this book, such as of living on and finding yourself, the bonds between people/animals and the appreciation, intricacy and beauty of Nature.
I still think about the book, Ossie, Uncle Will and the Swamp, from time to time. And I'm grateful to my younger self for having pestered my family to buy this book for me, all those years ago at the bookstore.
October 28, 2008
totally rules!
February 2, 2011
This book was only ok because I like my books to start a little bit quicker than this book started. When it got started, it was a good book. I just wish it had started a little bit sooner.
April 1, 2016
gr 4-8
April 2, 2017
The characters in this story are animals, but they might just as well be people... what a great story.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews