In my younger days, Mrs. Frisby called out to me from a stack of books my high-school library was culling. I had permission from the librarian to take as many as I wanted; and I did! ( I crammed my locker full every day, a day packed them all home stuffed in my backpack over the next several weeks until the charity shop came to pick up the ones I had yet to get to. I still mourn those stories lost to time) I read it that summer, as we crossed Lake Michigan aboard the S.S. Badger. I have read it several times since then, and each time something different stands out to me. I say this as a warning who might choose to read this as a bedtime book with the children in your life.
Mrs. Jonathan Frisby is a field mouse, recent widow and mother of three. Mrs. Frisby is adjusting to her widowed, when Timothy, her youngest, falls ill late in the winter. As he fails to improve, with Spring fast approaching, Mrs. Frisby seeks help from a friend of her Husband. He provides her with both diagnosis (pneumonia) and treatment (take medicine, stay warm for the next three weeks or so).
Mrs. Frisby races home across the yard, avoiding the Farmer's cat, when she all but trips over a trapped crow! She assists in his escape and they make friends. It is during the race to her winter home in the corn field that Mrs. Frisby begins to notice that Spring is in the air. Moving Day, the day before the Farmer plows his field, is threatening to come before Timothy can be moved safely.
She is faced with a choice, stay and die or move and lose Timothy when he catches chill in the cooler summer home. One day, the Crow stops by and suggests she ask the Owl for an answer to her problem. So she goes, and in turn is told to visit the rats that live under the rose bush: the Rats of N.I.H.M.
I have loved this story for a very long time. Mrs. Frisby's undaunted courage is inspirational no matter how old you are. In my mind she a rodent precursor to Molly Weasley, repeatedly risking her own life to save her children. I believe that this is what children reading this story will remember.
As an adult, and an adult who has studied clinical psychology at that, I am heavily effected by the stories of the rats, and of Jonathan Frisby. They endured torture so that we humans could glean knowledge. That realization, recognizing the experiments of Skinner and his ilk, traumatized me, the adult. It is worth it, though, for the admirable bravery of Mrs. Frisby. Please pick up this book from your local library today!
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I first read this book when I was about eight. It's very affecting.
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