Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child. 
 
They are not like other rats. They work at night, in secret . . . 
 
Time is running out for Mrs Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children. She must move her family before the farmer destroys their home. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and is too sick to be taken on such a perilous journey. 
 
Help comes in the unexpected form of a highly extraordinary breed of super-intelligent rats. The rats of NIMH come up with a brilliant solution to Mrs Frisby's problem but the rats are in danger too, and little by little Mrs Frisby discovers their extraordinary past . . . 
 
A thrilling fantasy adventure with heartwarming characters and some extraordinary rodents. Winner of the Newbery Medal.

Loyal, resourceful Mrs. Frisby . . . is the engaging heroine of this thoroughly engrossing, thought-provoking fantasy.

Robert C. O'Brien (1918-1973) was, in private life, Robert Leslie Conly, senior assistant editor of National Geographic Magazine where he worked for over twenty years. He was born in New York and lived most of his adult life in Virginia. He wrote three books for children, including the acclaimed MRS FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH which won the prestigious Newbery Medal. His haunting young adult novel Z FOR ZACHARIAH was completed posthumously by his wife, Sally, and daughter, Jane, using the author's notes.

They are not like other rats. They work at night, in secret . . . 
 
Time is running out for Mrs Frisby. She must move her family of mice before the farmer destroys their home. But her youngest son, Timothy, is too ill to survive the move. 
 
Help comes in the unexpected form of a group of mysterious, super-intelligent rats. But the rats are in danger too, and little by little Mrs Frisby discovers their extraordinary past . . .

Robert C. O'Brien

Nuclear war has devastated America, except for the valley where Ann Burden has been living alone for over a year - until Loomis, a scientist in a radiation-proof suit, arrives. She hopes they will be companions but his behaviour towards her becomes increasingly threatening as he attacks her and then cuts off her food supply and tries to bring her under his control. Although there may be no one else alive, Ann steals his suit and leaves the valley in search of humanity. Z for Zachariah is a modern sci-fi classic for young adults.

Z For Zachariah

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Robert C. O’Brien

Join our newsletter for 10% off at the Penguin Shop

A Puffin Book

The Originals

Tempting Venom

80,000 Hours

A Taste For Murder

The Make-Believe

Robert C. O'Brien

Books by Robert C. O'Brien

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter