[b: Misunderstood: A Book About Rats|25689036|Misunderstood A Book About Rats|Rachel Toor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444655322s/25689036.jpg|45517440] is yet another in my 'let's put every book my library has on rats on hold and see what I may find' experiment. This was, so far, probably the most fun of the books I've found. While it doesn't go into quite as much detail about the actual intricacies of rat care as other handbooks I've read, it does a better job of encapsulating the whole rat-human experience that comes from living with these pets. I don't feel saying 'owning' them is quite the right term - you more just share your home with them for the duration of their lives.

[a: Rachel Toor|17545|Rachel Toor|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1193155752p2/17545.jpg] has written a wonderful book for young audiences that is equally engaging for older readers. She writes about her own life with her rat, Iris, and in the process the other rat enthusiasts and the scientists who study them. There are ample citings of interesting facts about rats and the people who keep them. Scientific studies are delved into, as is the natural history of the animals and the way humans have interacted with them over the ages. This is a book about fancy rats, and one of the few that exist. It'll be an eye-opening book for anyone interested in them.

As testimony to this books intense readability and fascinating content when I was adopting a hedgehog out recently, the woman's children became very interested in my pet rats. I let them play with them, and was sharing facts with them. The daughter noticed I had this book on my table, and picked it up right then and there. She ended up reading about 20 pages in a single sitting, all the while sharing the facts with me and showing me the pictures within it. Not a bad way to help people understand just how cool these animals are. ( )