Review of Ritchie Rat The Cool Dude

[Hager Salem]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Ritchie Rat The Cool Dude" by Lakshan Chaturi.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Ritchie Rat The Cool Dude by Lakshan Chaturi is a children's book that tells the story of Ritchie, a little rat who goes to Forest Rat’s Primary School. School was starting soon, and he couldn't wait. Polly, his mother, took him to school on the first day. Before she kissed him goodbye, she gave him some advice. She asked him to be nice to the other kids and not call them names or take anything without permission. Ritchie listened to his mom carefully and agreed with what she said. He went to the school and met many new friends. All of them were nice, and they had good times together, except for a rat named Cheet. You can grab the book to see what Cheet does to the other rats and how they react.

I like that the book presents many good qualities to the children through the story. The story's main theme is bullying. It teaches the children to stay away from doing what the bully did if they want to keep the company of their friends. It teaches kids to help whoever is in need. It also teaches them that unity is power.

I would have loved to see more illustrations in the book. It helps the children get more engaged with it. The illustrations available were good, but they were only at the beginning of each chapter. The book had good material that could be easily illustrated. In addition, I didn't like when they referred to Cheet, the bully rat, as the big fat rat. This is considered bullying. How can we attack bullying in some positions while allowing it in others? I would have preferred it if the mom had corrected Ritchie when he said that.

Overall, the book is enjoyable and educational. It teaches the children how to express themselves and stand up to bullying. It has some disadvantages that I mentioned. Therefore, I rate the book four out of five stars. The book received professional editing. I couldn't spot any errors in its pages.

I recommend the book to young children who can read. I also recommend it to parents who would like to have conversations about bullying with their kids.

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Ritchie Rat The Cool Dude
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[Malea Rencher]

Amazing! Good job!