Review: Maybe This Book's Message of Tolerance and Acceptance to All Would Have Worked Better if Reginald Wasn't a Rat
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 18, 2012
This is a book about a rat named Reginald who hates rats and constantly feels the need to voice his hatred to anyone he's talking to.  So Reginald I guess represents the racists or other hate filled bigot groups towards genders, sexuality, social class, occupations and other groups.  Now Reginald as you would have guessed from the book's title is also a rat, the very thing he despises, but he doesn't know he is one which seems a bit absurd.  I mean obviously he would have had rat parents at the very least.  That aside I also didn't like how the other animals excepted his racist behaviour, they would granted point out rats are the opposite of what he would say but as a society they really should have been giving him a good telling off and socially punishing him for behaving in that manner leaving him with no uncertain misgiving that being racist or a bigot is not acceptable at all.  As you would expect the reader to do if there was a racist or homophobic or whatever kid in their school. Not just turn a blind eye to the rants.Reginald overcomes his hatred through lust in this book.  Granted probably the most effective means in the real world too but if that was the way to teach him in this story, surely it would have been a more convincing story if he was a mouse or some other animal and not a rat and fell in love with someone who was the very thing he irrationally hated all these years.  It probably though would have been a better lesson for kids if a rat had saved his life, or helped him when he got lost, or saved him from some other bullies or anything else other than lust.The book also has the odd error such as a goose asks who is that when a character enters the room then answers the question itself.