A Review By Tamsin

‘Give me your buns and your biscuits! Give me your chocolate éclairs!

For I am the Rat of the highway, and the Rat Thief never shares!’ Life is not safe for those who live alongside the highway, as the villainous Highway Rat gallops along, stealing food from the other animals. Clover from a rabbit; nuts from a squirrel – he even steals his own horse’s hay. The Highway Rat gets fatter and fatter, while the other animals struggle to find enough to eat. But he’s reckoned without one cunning little duck who to plans to teach him a lesson. Written by the authors of favorites like ‘The Gruffalo’, ‘Room on the Broom’, The Smartest Giant in Town’ and ‘Zog’, in the usual, fabulous, rollicking rhyme.

Donaldson has based the rhythm of her poem on the famous Alfred Noyes poem, ‘The Highwayman’. Another clever, fun tale by Donaldson, completed by typically witty illustrations from Axel Scheffler. As we have come to expect from this partnership, this is clearly another classic in the making. Charming. As ever.