Dirty Rats?

Dirty Rats?
by Darrin Lunde; illus. by Adam Gustavson
32 pages; ages 3-7
Charlesbridge, 2015

Rats are dirty, right? They scurry about in the night, eating garbage. Plus there's the naked tail and beady eyes thing they've got going on.... it's enough to make you grab a broom and give 'em a swat.

But wait.... writes Lunde. Not all rats eat garbage. Long-tailed marmoset rats living in Thailand eat bamboo flowers. Some rats hop, and other rats have bushy tails. Linde introduces readers to rat-diversity, including "lab rats" used by medical researchers. We learn how rats fit into the ecosystem (food for carnivores) and, near the end, he includes a chart of different kinds of rats. There are pack rats and sand rats, wooly rats and pouched rats, and even crested rats that look as though they had a bad hair day.

Regardless of what you think about rats, this book will have you looking at them with new eyes.

 Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copy provided by publisher.