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The Highway Rat
Il Topo Brigante è il terrore del bosco. Chi mai oserà affrontare questo tipaccio? “Altolà, dammi tutto... ma tu non hai nulla! Dovrò divorarti, mia cara fanciulla. Mi sa che sarai una vera schifezza, un misero pasto, una grande tristezza... Però sono un topo senza pietà e quello che voglio, quello si fa!”. Età di lettura: da 5 anni.
36 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2012
24 people are currently reading
859 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,239 books1,942 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 293 reviews
June 24, 2015
The Highway Rat was a baddie.
The Highway Rat was a beast.
He took what he wanted and ate what he took.
His life was one long feast.
His teeth were sharp and yellow,
his manners were rough and rude,
And the Highway Rat went riding -
Riding - riding -
Riding along the highway
and stealing the travelers' food.
In case you haven't noticed, this is like a children's retelling of The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. I was surprised by how big a hit this was. The children ate it up!
I didn't find the illustrations to be particularly wonderful, but the kids didn't notice/care.
This book was immensely popular, I'd have to recommend it.
The Highway Rat was a beast.
He took what he wanted and ate what he took.
His life was one long feast.
His teeth were sharp and yellow,
his manners were rough and rude,
And the Highway Rat went riding -
Riding - riding -
Riding along the highway
and stealing the travelers' food.
In case you haven't noticed, this is like a children's retelling of The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. I was surprised by how big a hit this was. The children ate it up!
I didn't find the illustrations to be particularly wonderful, but the kids didn't notice/care.
This book was immensely popular, I'd have to recommend it.
March 26, 2020
The Highway Rat is a baddie. He sits on the highway or the road through the mountains and he robs the people of all their food, even if he doesn’t like it. Even the leaves the ants are carrying, the Highway Rat takes it all. He’s so bad that he steals his own horses hay.
A duck is on the road with no food and so the Highway Rat is going to eat the duck, but the duck finds a smart way to outsmart the Rat. It’s a lovely ending. The rat is taught a lesson.
The artwork is colorful and fun. The rat looks a little like Zorro, but he is a baddie for certain. I love Julia Donaldson’s work. She works with Axel as illustrator and they make an excellent team.
The nephew had fun reading this. He wanted the rat to win, the scoundrel. He thought this was a fine book, but it could have used a monster at the end to make it better in his opinion. He was glad a book finally had some action. He gave this 4 stars.
A duck is on the road with no food and so the Highway Rat is going to eat the duck, but the duck finds a smart way to outsmart the Rat. It’s a lovely ending. The rat is taught a lesson.
The artwork is colorful and fun. The rat looks a little like Zorro, but he is a baddie for certain. I love Julia Donaldson’s work. She works with Axel as illustrator and they make an excellent team.
The nephew had fun reading this. He wanted the rat to win, the scoundrel. He thought this was a fine book, but it could have used a monster at the end to make it better in his opinion. He was glad a book finally had some action. He gave this 4 stars.
May 1, 2020
Another delightful instant classic by Donaldson (writer) and Scheffler (illustrator) as a pesky Highway Rat is stealing all the other animals sweets and pastries.
Eventually the rat will get so bold that inevitably will lead to his downfall.
A strong well written tale that is fun to read aloud, the drawings add an extra layer of enjoyable.
Eventually the rat will get so bold that inevitably will lead to his downfall.
A strong well written tale that is fun to read aloud, the drawings add an extra layer of enjoyable.
April 3, 2023
Absolutely marvelous! As an adult reader I totally adore the clever and delightful textual parody of Alfred Noyes' classic The Highwayman ballad (and indeed also much appreciate that with The Highway Rat, Julia Donaldson has just taken Alfred Noyes' external form and has not made her text content wise into some silly love story and her Highway Rat into a romantic type of hero, as no, that would in my opinion have made The Highway Rat annoyingly maudlin and not the engaging and so very much fun poetic parody of The Highwayman that it is).
And as a child (that is if I had read The Highway Rat as a child or had it read to me, but of course The Highway Rat was not yet available when I was a child, since it was only published in 2011), oh yes, I would have oh so much loved loved loved the Highway Rat and totally, absolutely appreciated it (with both its in many ways a bounding horseback ride imitating form and in particular its textual, verbal themes and contents) as a what I would label an inverted trickster tale, with the Highway Rat, with the cocky and oh so sure of himself and continuously bent on subterfuge, mayhem and greed villain finally meeting his match and getting his just desserts (and indeed, a pun is most definitely intended here) when he tries to rob a diminutive duck, who though not only turns the tables on him by playing up to his legendary gluttony and greed (and getting the Highway Rat hopelessly lost in an echoey cave), the duck also also takes possession of the Highway Rat's horse and rescues all of the food that had been stolen, returning all of it to the Highway Rat's victims (who share their retrieved goodies amongst themselves and have a huge party and feast, whilst the Highway Rat is lost in the echo cave, finally makes it out at the other side, and delightfully ends up throughly defeated and working at a very lowly type of cleaning job).
Combined with Axel Scheffler's brilliantly imaginative illustrations, which not only mirror Julia Donaldson's delightful engaging, entertaining (and parodistical) verses, but also visually and aesthetically sometimes even expand on them, The Highway Rat (and indeed even though I personally do not all that much enjoy stories or poems featuring anthropomorphic rodents) has definitely and certainly been a full five star book for me, a wonderful parody of Alfred Noyse and an engagingly humorous tale of trickery and standing up against bullies that also is first and foremost totally wonderful to read aloud.
And as a child (that is if I had read The Highway Rat as a child or had it read to me, but of course The Highway Rat was not yet available when I was a child, since it was only published in 2011), oh yes, I would have oh so much loved loved loved the Highway Rat and totally, absolutely appreciated it (with both its in many ways a bounding horseback ride imitating form and in particular its textual, verbal themes and contents) as a what I would label an inverted trickster tale, with the Highway Rat, with the cocky and oh so sure of himself and continuously bent on subterfuge, mayhem and greed villain finally meeting his match and getting his just desserts (and indeed, a pun is most definitely intended here) when he tries to rob a diminutive duck, who though not only turns the tables on him by playing up to his legendary gluttony and greed (and getting the Highway Rat hopelessly lost in an echoey cave), the duck also also takes possession of the Highway Rat's horse and rescues all of the food that had been stolen, returning all of it to the Highway Rat's victims (who share their retrieved goodies amongst themselves and have a huge party and feast, whilst the Highway Rat is lost in the echo cave, finally makes it out at the other side, and delightfully ends up throughly defeated and working at a very lowly type of cleaning job).
Combined with Axel Scheffler's brilliantly imaginative illustrations, which not only mirror Julia Donaldson's delightful engaging, entertaining (and parodistical) verses, but also visually and aesthetically sometimes even expand on them, The Highway Rat (and indeed even though I personally do not all that much enjoy stories or poems featuring anthropomorphic rodents) has definitely and certainly been a full five star book for me, a wonderful parody of Alfred Noyse and an engagingly humorous tale of trickery and standing up against bullies that also is first and foremost totally wonderful to read aloud.
January 1, 2018
‘The Highway Rat’ (2016) is another first rate little adventure for younger readers from the accomplished pen of Julia Donaldson, with the usual and lovely accompanying illustrations by Axel Sheffler.
Donaldson and Sheffler have now become – as with: Dahl/Blake, Milne/Shephard, Wilson/Sharratt etc – very much a formidable team, a force to be reckoned with in children’s literature. Each individual writer and illustrator strong and successful in their own right, but together and by way of symbiosis, they compliment and magnify each other’s skills – creating something bigger and better together, the whole being often much greater than the sum of its parts.
This time it is story of a predatory, villainous and avaricious rodent and as usual there is a suitable and satisfying denouement – a moral well delivered by the story.
For fans of Julia Donaldson/Axel Sheffler – this is one not to be missed.
Donaldson and Sheffler have now become – as with: Dahl/Blake, Milne/Shephard, Wilson/Sharratt etc – very much a formidable team, a force to be reckoned with in children’s literature. Each individual writer and illustrator strong and successful in their own right, but together and by way of symbiosis, they compliment and magnify each other’s skills – creating something bigger and better together, the whole being often much greater than the sum of its parts.
This time it is story of a predatory, villainous and avaricious rodent and as usual there is a suitable and satisfying denouement – a moral well delivered by the story.
For fans of Julia Donaldson/Axel Sheffler – this is one not to be missed.
March 26, 2023
The Highway Rat is a baddie and he takes whatever food he wants from any traveller that he stops. Pastries, puddings, buns, biscuits, nuts, fish, milk, flies and even a bunch of clover and a leaf, the last mentioned from an army of ants! He even steals his own horse's hay!
He grows fat on the proceeds of his robberies but then he meets a duck, who has no food, so he decides that he will have the duck for tea. However, the duck is able to stave off disaster by telling the Highway Rat that his sister, who lives deep in a nearby cave, has plenty of food that he will enjoy far more.
'Lead on!', cries the Rat and they arrive at the cave, where in reply to his requests for chocolate and other goodies, an echoing reply invites him in. Excitedly he dashes into the cave at which point the duck takes the Rat's horse and gallops off down the road [the illustration of the little duck on a massive horse galloping off down the road is the star illustration in a collection of excellent ones].
The duck joins her many animal friends and they share out the grub from the Rat's saddlebags and have a jolly old feast. Meanwhile the Rat is lost in the cave and he wanders through it to come out on the other side of the hill ... with nothing.
This seemingly teaches him a lesson, and, thinner, greyer and meeker, the Rat lands a job in a shop ... what kind of shop is for you to guess, but believe me it is probably an easy guess!
This is another winner from the Donaldson/Scheffler duo.
He grows fat on the proceeds of his robberies but then he meets a duck, who has no food, so he decides that he will have the duck for tea. However, the duck is able to stave off disaster by telling the Highway Rat that his sister, who lives deep in a nearby cave, has plenty of food that he will enjoy far more.
'Lead on!', cries the Rat and they arrive at the cave, where in reply to his requests for chocolate and other goodies, an echoing reply invites him in. Excitedly he dashes into the cave at which point the duck takes the Rat's horse and gallops off down the road [the illustration of the little duck on a massive horse galloping off down the road is the star illustration in a collection of excellent ones].
The duck joins her many animal friends and they share out the grub from the Rat's saddlebags and have a jolly old feast. Meanwhile the Rat is lost in the cave and he wanders through it to come out on the other side of the hill ... with nothing.
This seemingly teaches him a lesson, and, thinner, greyer and meeker, the Rat lands a job in a shop ... what kind of shop is for you to guess, but believe me it is probably an easy guess!
This is another winner from the Donaldson/Scheffler duo.
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January 8, 2016
Julia Donaldson is an English writer and previous Children's Laureate.
Ahh, The Highway Rat was quite a disappointment. The story was fair enough, but it seemed to lack the magic that The Gruffalo possessed. I'd say this one was for the kids and the adults can leave well alone.
Ahh, The Highway Rat was quite a disappointment. The story was fair enough, but it seemed to lack the magic that The Gruffalo possessed. I'd say this one was for the kids and the adults can leave well alone.
October 9, 2013
"The Highway Rat was a baddie.
The Highway Rat was a beast.
He took what he wanted and at what he took.
His life was one long feast."
The Highway Rat terrorises the local village. Cunning, daring and altogether selfish, he delights in stealing the locals’ food. But they won’t stand for it much longer.
Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Shaffer (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom), The Highway Rat is a delightful story. It’s largely written in verse which lends it a tremendous pace and sense of excitement that will engage younger children, particularly in years one and two. The moral issue of theft which forms the central conceit of the book lends itself to further extraction and questioning. Using talk partners, you can ask children to come up with responses to particular questions – is The Highway Rat right to steal their food etc? What would you do if The Highway Rat stole your food?
It seems to serve the development of comprehension skills and other social and emotional aspects of learning quite neatly.
You get a sense (or at least I did) whilst reading the book that it’s a very ‘active’ story. By that I don’t just mean its plot is full of cause and effect, but also that it lends itself to being acted out. This is a fun story that you can use to celebrate and promote reading. Using some of your class as a chorus, a few children as the lead characters and after having made character masks and props in class, The Highway Rat would make a perfect assembly piece.
I highly recommend it for those reasons.
The Highway Rat was a beast.
He took what he wanted and at what he took.
His life was one long feast."
The Highway Rat terrorises the local village. Cunning, daring and altogether selfish, he delights in stealing the locals’ food. But they won’t stand for it much longer.
Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Shaffer (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom), The Highway Rat is a delightful story. It’s largely written in verse which lends it a tremendous pace and sense of excitement that will engage younger children, particularly in years one and two. The moral issue of theft which forms the central conceit of the book lends itself to further extraction and questioning. Using talk partners, you can ask children to come up with responses to particular questions – is The Highway Rat right to steal their food etc? What would you do if The Highway Rat stole your food?
It seems to serve the development of comprehension skills and other social and emotional aspects of learning quite neatly.
You get a sense (or at least I did) whilst reading the book that it’s a very ‘active’ story. By that I don’t just mean its plot is full of cause and effect, but also that it lends itself to being acted out. This is a fun story that you can use to celebrate and promote reading. Using some of your class as a chorus, a few children as the lead characters and after having made character masks and props in class, The Highway Rat would make a perfect assembly piece.
I highly recommend it for those reasons.
March 17, 2014
The Highway Rat is an exciting and child friendly book about a mean, greedy and vicious rat that goes round stealing other animal’s food. After snatching other animal’s food, the rat finally comes across a duck, which did not have anything to give him. So, the rat could not let the duck go without giving him anything, so he expressed his interest in eating the duck instead. However, this duck was very clever and was able to quickly think on his feet. He informed the rat that there is a place where the rat can get lots of cakes and biscuits and that they will be much tastier than him. So off went the rat along the path to that special place. Finally, they got to their destination and the rat found himself trapped. The rat ended up working as a rubbish sweeper in that place and was not able to steal again.
Although the story line is very simple, there is a lot of cross curricular links there. Our year 2 created a ‘WANTED!’ poster for the Highway Rat and wrote about the crimes of the rat and why they needed to catch him as soon as possible. The children had to use a range of descriptive language to make their writing interesting and for creating a sense of urgency. In addition, our year 2 created their own version of the capture of the Highway Rat with a clear beginning, middle and end. They had to use a lot of similes, adjectives and body language to create tension and a chase to grab their reader’s attention.
It could also be used for PSHE lessons, to explore why stealing is wrong and how it can affect the victim’s life. In science they can look at food chains and animal habitats and use the story to explore these topics further.
This is a great book with a great deal of cross curricular links. The children thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would personally link it with other subjects and get the children to engage in role plays, thought showers and hot seating to extend their understanding. I would also use the character of the rat in maths lessons to address misconceptions.
I would recommend this book for KS1.
Although the story line is very simple, there is a lot of cross curricular links there. Our year 2 created a ‘WANTED!’ poster for the Highway Rat and wrote about the crimes of the rat and why they needed to catch him as soon as possible. The children had to use a range of descriptive language to make their writing interesting and for creating a sense of urgency. In addition, our year 2 created their own version of the capture of the Highway Rat with a clear beginning, middle and end. They had to use a lot of similes, adjectives and body language to create tension and a chase to grab their reader’s attention.
It could also be used for PSHE lessons, to explore why stealing is wrong and how it can affect the victim’s life. In science they can look at food chains and animal habitats and use the story to explore these topics further.
This is a great book with a great deal of cross curricular links. The children thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would personally link it with other subjects and get the children to engage in role plays, thought showers and hot seating to extend their understanding. I would also use the character of the rat in maths lessons to address misconceptions.
I would recommend this book for KS1.
September 27, 2022
3.5/5
be aware of the highway rat!!
be aware of the highway rat!!
September 16, 2019
Evokes ballads like The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, and for that it gets an extra star from me. A simple plot of good & clever vs. evil & greedy, illustrated in this popular cartoon-style, makes it family friendly. I'm reading Donaldson's books for a group, and though she's not to my particular taste, I'll round up to 4*s anyway for this one.
August 31, 2019
Loved this one! A play on the poem The Highwayman where the protagonist learns a lesson (positive) after terrorizing and stealing.
September 5, 2022
یک داستان بامزه کوچولو که به صرف سرگرمی از قفسه کتابفروشی برداشتم و همانجا ایستاده به یاد کودکی خواندم
October 8, 2020
#93 of 2020
I really liked this. Such a clever story with a wonderful lesson.
I really liked this. Such a clever story with a wonderful lesson.
January 18, 2012
The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson
I first discovered the Highway Rat book on school placement A where we had a week focused around the book. This week was developed to promote the shared reading of a text throughout the school, develop shared reading and a love for text. Before this week started the staff all had inset to become familiar with the text, share the story and develop possible learning activities. Throughout the week many Highway Rat themed activities were planned including Highway Rat phonics, related word maths problems and sharing the rat’s food through fractions. The children also developed their own character profiles, interviewed some of the animals through hot seating and wrote their own newspaper reports. The children’s parents also had an opportunity to buy the book at a discounted price and children could enter a competition to name and colour the rat. I believe this idea worked really well and was a positive to see all year groups, children and parents so involved with the sharing of a text and a new love for a book developed.
I first discovered the Highway Rat book on school placement A where we had a week focused around the book. This week was developed to promote the shared reading of a text throughout the school, develop shared reading and a love for text. Before this week started the staff all had inset to become familiar with the text, share the story and develop possible learning activities. Throughout the week many Highway Rat themed activities were planned including Highway Rat phonics, related word maths problems and sharing the rat’s food through fractions. The children also developed their own character profiles, interviewed some of the animals through hot seating and wrote their own newspaper reports. The children’s parents also had an opportunity to buy the book at a discounted price and children could enter a competition to name and colour the rat. I believe this idea worked really well and was a positive to see all year groups, children and parents so involved with the sharing of a text and a new love for a book developed.
April 15, 2013
Hide your goodies!
The Highway Rat is lying in wait for your delicious snacks and treats.
Although he prefers pastries and chocolate and cake, he’ll take anything you have. For as he says, “I am the Rat of the Highway – the Highway – the Highway. Yes I am the Rat of the Highway, and whatever I want I take.”
He steals clover from a passing rabbit. He steals nuts from a frightened squirrel. He even steals hay from his own horse. But when a duck passes by with no snacks, the Highway Rat threatens to eat the duck! What can a helpless fowl do against this fowl highway thief?
In this variation of the brain vs. brawn theme, Julia Donaldson gives kids a charming story of a duck with pluck. With rhyming text and Rat’s trademark refrain, the story flows rhythmically along. Children, who have so little autonomy in their own life, will relate with the woodland animals who are bullied by the larger, meaner rodent.
from my review on JenningsWire: http://anniejenningspr.com/jenningswi...
The Highway Rat is lying in wait for your delicious snacks and treats.
Although he prefers pastries and chocolate and cake, he’ll take anything you have. For as he says, “I am the Rat of the Highway – the Highway – the Highway. Yes I am the Rat of the Highway, and whatever I want I take.”
He steals clover from a passing rabbit. He steals nuts from a frightened squirrel. He even steals hay from his own horse. But when a duck passes by with no snacks, the Highway Rat threatens to eat the duck! What can a helpless fowl do against this fowl highway thief?
In this variation of the brain vs. brawn theme, Julia Donaldson gives kids a charming story of a duck with pluck. With rhyming text and Rat’s trademark refrain, the story flows rhythmically along. Children, who have so little autonomy in their own life, will relate with the woodland animals who are bullied by the larger, meaner rodent.
from my review on JenningsWire: http://anniejenningspr.com/jenningswi...
May 9, 2013
This is a riff on the old poem "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes which probably won't mean much to most kids. The story of a greedy rat who is tricked by a potential victim into leaving town will delight kids, and this will work well in an anti-bully unit without sounding like some other didactic stories.
July 18, 2013
I love Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman," so any picture book (loosely!) based on the poem is bound to be a winner for me.
January 12, 2024
Der Wald ist nicht mehr sicher seit der pelzige Wegelagerer sein Unwesen treibt. Nichts und niemand ist vor ihm sicher. Ob er einem Eichhörnchen seine Nüsschen oder einem Kaninchen seinen Klee stiehlt: der Highway Rat ist es egal, ob ihm die Beute schmeckt oder nicht. Alles Essen auf den Wegen durch den Wald gehört ihr und der Rattendieb teilt nie. Es geht sogar so weit, dass er sein eigenes Pferd beraubt! Die Tiere im Wald werden immer dünner und schwächer, die Highway Rat wird immer dicker und dreister. Gut, dass es eine schlaue Ente gibt die einen Ausweg weiß.
Niemand darf einem anderen ungestraft etwas wegnehmen und nicht immer kommt es auf körperliche Überlegenheit an. Letztendlich halten die Tiere des Waldes zusammen und vertreiben die böse Ratte aus ihrer Mitte. Die findet eine neue Bleibe (und Arbeit) in einer Konditorei auf der anderen Seite des Berges, wo sie sich von den Krümeln die bei ihrer Arbeit anfallen ernährt.
Wer schon die Geschichten um den Grüffelo kennt, dem kommt die freche Highway Rat bekannt vor. Es tauchen vertraute Gesichter auf und auch das Motto ist das gleiche. Trotzdem ist The Highway Rat zumindest bei uns nicht so beliebt wie der Grüffelo. Die Reime wirken teilweise eckig und auch die Tatsache, dass die Hauptperson ein gemeiner Dieb ist gefallen meiner Tochter nicht so gut. Dabei macht die Sprache keinen Unterschied, denn sie liebt sowohl den Grüffelo als auch den Gruffelo.
Niemand darf einem anderen ungestraft etwas wegnehmen und nicht immer kommt es auf körperliche Überlegenheit an. Letztendlich halten die Tiere des Waldes zusammen und vertreiben die böse Ratte aus ihrer Mitte. Die findet eine neue Bleibe (und Arbeit) in einer Konditorei auf der anderen Seite des Berges, wo sie sich von den Krümeln die bei ihrer Arbeit anfallen ernährt.
Wer schon die Geschichten um den Grüffelo kennt, dem kommt die freche Highway Rat bekannt vor. Es tauchen vertraute Gesichter auf und auch das Motto ist das gleiche. Trotzdem ist The Highway Rat zumindest bei uns nicht so beliebt wie der Grüffelo. Die Reime wirken teilweise eckig und auch die Tatsache, dass die Hauptperson ein gemeiner Dieb ist gefallen meiner Tochter nicht so gut. Dabei macht die Sprache keinen Unterschied, denn sie liebt sowohl den Grüffelo als auch den Gruffelo.
April 19, 2020
This is a pretty good read. Saw the video of David Tennant reading this book online. Be sure to check this book out at your local library and wherever books and ebooks are sold.
December 29, 2023
'Give me your buns and your biscuits! Give me your chocolate éclairs!
For I am the Rat of the highway, and the Rat Thief never shares!'
For I am the Rat of the highway, and the Rat Thief never shares!'
March 7, 2023
Read for poetry, liked it
October 25, 2012
From the writer of The Gruffalo, The Highway Rat is a child’s version of the highwayman poem, however instead of characters there are animals. It was a very fun read for year 2, and children begin to develop a sense of poetry. The story is of a rat who scourers the highway looking for unsuspecting animals with food, which he steals and leave the animals with nothing, until he meets a very clever duck who out wit's him, and the highway rat has to suffer the consequences. This book also good for PSHE lessons as it has a moral to the story which is not to take belongings that are not yours. This book opens up to many discussions for children between right and wrong, greedy behaviour and wanting to have what is not yours. Many questions can also be asked in relation to the highway rat’s behaviour, how does the duck trick the rat, who is the hero and why does the rat listen to the duck and many more.
The use of sounds created in the story, involve the ready to repeat and join in with the story ‘the highway rat came riding-riding-riding’. The poem has a great ‘ABCB’ rhyming rhythm, which adds to the sense of exciting to the story. The use of adjectives in the story is a key element from year 2 level as they are beginning to extend their vocabulary in descriptive words and verbs, words such as galloped. The illustration opens a pathway for many other questions, and displays an imaginative writer’s story, which could be acted in a drama whereby every child could act a character.
The use of sounds created in the story, involve the ready to repeat and join in with the story ‘the highway rat came riding-riding-riding’. The poem has a great ‘ABCB’ rhyming rhythm, which adds to the sense of exciting to the story. The use of adjectives in the story is a key element from year 2 level as they are beginning to extend their vocabulary in descriptive words and verbs, words such as galloped. The illustration opens a pathway for many other questions, and displays an imaginative writer’s story, which could be acted in a drama whereby every child could act a character.
March 26, 2013
The creators of The Gruffalo return for an uproarious version of a beloved poem. Beware, for the Highway Rat is coming and he’s out to steal everyone’s snacks. He rides along with food dropping out of his saddlebags, accosting poor travelers at sword point, demanding their goodies. He steals clover from a rabbit who has nothing else, a leaf from some ants, even hay from his own horse. Eventually though, the Highway Rat meets his match in a juicy-looking duck who directs him into a cave where the echo seems to promise food. Then the Highway Rat rides no more.
I love a good riff on a traditional poem, and this one is very clever. Those familiar with The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes will particularly enjoy the play Donaldson makes with its form. She incorporates familiar phrasing like “And the Highway Rat went riding – riding –riding – riding along the highway.” Somehow her other words which are quite different from the poem have a similar rhythm and evoke the poem effortlessly.
Scheffler’s illustrations have a wonderful bold quality to them. The Highway Rat is truly a bad guy and his naughtiness is clearly shown in his actions and his aspect. His googly-eyed horse is a pleasure, almost always making eye-contact with the reader and sharing the joke of this evil rat riding on his back. The rich colors of the landscape add a depth to the illustrations that is very welcome.
The tale of an evil highwayman (or rat) makes for a great read. Add in strong illustrations and the play on a well-known poem, and you have picture book magic. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
I love a good riff on a traditional poem, and this one is very clever. Those familiar with The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes will particularly enjoy the play Donaldson makes with its form. She incorporates familiar phrasing like “And the Highway Rat went riding – riding –riding – riding along the highway.” Somehow her other words which are quite different from the poem have a similar rhythm and evoke the poem effortlessly.
Scheffler’s illustrations have a wonderful bold quality to them. The Highway Rat is truly a bad guy and his naughtiness is clearly shown in his actions and his aspect. His googly-eyed horse is a pleasure, almost always making eye-contact with the reader and sharing the joke of this evil rat riding on his back. The rich colors of the landscape add a depth to the illustrations that is very welcome.
The tale of an evil highwayman (or rat) makes for a great read. Add in strong illustrations and the play on a well-known poem, and you have picture book magic. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
November 25, 2012
The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson focuses on the tale of a villainous Highway Rat who gallops along the highway stealing other animals' food, thus making the life of these animals very unsafe! He steals clover from a rabbit, nuts from a squirrel, and he even steals his own horse's hay, although cakes and chocolate are what he prefers. His plan works very effectively as he leaves all the animals starving. However, he finally meets his opponent - a cunning duck who takes revenge by tricking the Highway Rat to enter into a cave that promises to be filled with edible delights but instead turns out to be a dangerous road where he is about to get terrorised.
This book has become a story time favourite for my year 2 class. It is a fantastic read with beautiful illustrations by Alex Scheffler that brings the characters to life, and the use of rollicking rhyme and repetition create a sing song style flow to the tale making the text approachable and engaging for children.
It is an ideal reader for KS1 and could be used throughout the curriculum. It sends out the message that if you choose to steal from others, it can come back to haunt you! Alongside being an excellent class read, the themes of the book are a starting point for class discussion on stealing, sharing, friendship, kindness and the feelings of the characters.
This book has become a story time favourite for my year 2 class. It is a fantastic read with beautiful illustrations by Alex Scheffler that brings the characters to life, and the use of rollicking rhyme and repetition create a sing song style flow to the tale making the text approachable and engaging for children.
It is an ideal reader for KS1 and could be used throughout the curriculum. It sends out the message that if you choose to steal from others, it can come back to haunt you! Alongside being an excellent class read, the themes of the book are a starting point for class discussion on stealing, sharing, friendship, kindness and the feelings of the characters.
December 28, 2025
This book appealed to both my 3 yo. daughter and 10 yo. son. In fact, my daughter has been nigh-obsessed with it, and we have read it many times. In a way, I think she'd be content to end the book at the animals' celebration of the highway rat's defeat with a grand feast by firelight and moonlight. An addendum, though, shows the highway rat making his way through the cave (into which he has been lured and lost), and living the rest of his life "A thinner and grayer and meeker Rat" who gives up highway robbery for working in a cake shop, where he can finally enjoy all those cookies and cakes that he never could seem to obtain in his criminal days. I still wouldn't trust him, but as my son pointed out, the last page shows the rat being dwarfed by the other inhabitants of the village, so he's no longer the big bad guy with a horse and sword, but rather looks smaller than the village children as he crouches on the floor, gnawing on a cookie that he's swept up. Even during his days as the Highway Rat, and though described as a "baddie" and a "beast," he never looked menacing enough to me. If rats can be cute, then he was cute.
November 29, 2017
As mom who was an English Lit major, I LOVE this cheeky little book...it's a retelling of/homage to Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman" (without all the, you know, shooting and death and ghosts and whatnot). My son loves the great rhythm, and at two, fills in the words at the end of each stanza. The fact that it's a long poem makes it a fun read-aloud, and it's great to start to expose little ones to poetry concepts at an early age, from a literacy standpoint. Plus, it's just fun.
My son is really into emotions, right now, and loves to identify the looks on the faces of the animals, as the Highway Rat avails himself of all their goodies, robbing them along the road. "Look sad!" "Horse scared!" The part where "He once STOLE HIS OWN HORSE'S HAY!" is a hoot. We love the innocent-seeming, but very sly duck, and her "sister" in the cave, who eventually give the bullying, bravado-filled Highway Rat his eventual comeuppance, and quash his reign of terror. And we also like that the rat's comeuppance isn't TOO harsh, in the end.
I know there are people who like The Gruffalo, by the same author, better, but to me, The Highway Rat is where it's at. By far.
My son is really into emotions, right now, and loves to identify the looks on the faces of the animals, as the Highway Rat avails himself of all their goodies, robbing them along the road. "Look sad!" "Horse scared!" The part where "He once STOLE HIS OWN HORSE'S HAY!" is a hoot. We love the innocent-seeming, but very sly duck, and her "sister" in the cave, who eventually give the bullying, bravado-filled Highway Rat his eventual comeuppance, and quash his reign of terror. And we also like that the rat's comeuppance isn't TOO harsh, in the end.
I know there are people who like The Gruffalo, by the same author, better, but to me, The Highway Rat is where it's at. By far.
March 20, 2019
The Highway Rat is our new book for our Literacy lessons in Year 1. They have all really engaged with the story and the characters. It has provided us with many different discussion points - one child pointed out to me today that the Highway Rat is naughty not only because he steals people's food, but also because he talks to strangers! This gave us the opportunity to have a little PSHE talk about 'stranger danger', and why the Highway Rat has not been making good choices!
We have also managed to link it to art - we created Wanted posters for the Highway Rat. The children had to use their literacy skills to describe the rat and his terrible crimes, and then got the opportunity to be artistically creative as well.
We have spoken about how the book rhymes, and how it can be read in a rhythmical way. The second time that we read it, the children were able to join in with some of the repetitive sentences, which they all really enjoyed.
A fantastic Julia Donaldson which I would highly recommend for any KS1 teacher!
We have also managed to link it to art - we created Wanted posters for the Highway Rat. The children had to use their literacy skills to describe the rat and his terrible crimes, and then got the opportunity to be artistically creative as well.
We have spoken about how the book rhymes, and how it can be read in a rhythmical way. The second time that we read it, the children were able to join in with some of the repetitive sentences, which they all really enjoyed.
A fantastic Julia Donaldson which I would highly recommend for any KS1 teacher!
Read
June 8, 2012The highway rat by Julia Donaldson
Another great book from Julia Donaldson that evokes a vast range of images and emotions to the reader. Children love to see the story unfold as the highway rat steals senselessly from every creature he meets on the highway. The highway rat steals to keep up his reputation as a great thief and there is plenty of repetition in the book that ensures a high tempo pace throughout. I particularly liked the illustrations which portrayed the highway rat in a similar light to ‘Puss in Boots’. However the highway rat does eventually get his comeuppance through the unlikely form of a duck. The wily duck tricks the highway rat into a cave where he traps the highway rat. The highway rat eventually escapes but is so terrified by his experience that he decides to change his ways and work in a cake shop. This leaves the reader with mixed emotions of sympathy as well as dislike for the highway rat which makes it an extremely interesting read for all.
Another great book from Julia Donaldson that evokes a vast range of images and emotions to the reader. Children love to see the story unfold as the highway rat steals senselessly from every creature he meets on the highway. The highway rat steals to keep up his reputation as a great thief and there is plenty of repetition in the book that ensures a high tempo pace throughout. I particularly liked the illustrations which portrayed the highway rat in a similar light to ‘Puss in Boots’. However the highway rat does eventually get his comeuppance through the unlikely form of a duck. The wily duck tricks the highway rat into a cave where he traps the highway rat. The highway rat eventually escapes but is so terrified by his experience that he decides to change his ways and work in a cake shop. This leaves the reader with mixed emotions of sympathy as well as dislike for the highway rat which makes it an extremely interesting read for all.
December 8, 2011
'The Highway Rat' is a child-friendly adaptation of the famous poem 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes. The central character is the evil Highway Rat who gallops along the highway stealing food from innocent animals. The story is ripe with drama and excitement and these features are enhanced by detailed illustrations. In fact some pages have a minimal amount of text allowing the reader to get dragged along by the colourful depictions of the animals' trauma. I recently worked in a school where this book formed part of a whole week of Highway Rat themed activities and the children truly loved it. They were captivated by the rhythm and rhyming patterns of the book and learned exciting new vocabulary. They adored the scene towards the end where all the animals receive their food back and were able to share their views on the themes of the book. The Highway Rat is well worth a read.
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