Hooway for Wodney Wat
Written by Helen Lester
Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
Recommended for ages 4-8
$9.99

“Poor Wodney. Wodney Wat. His real name was Rodney Rat, but he couldn’t pronounce his r’s…” And so begins the tale (or tail) of Rodney Rat who attends P.S. 142 Elementary School for Rodents. Rodney is a shy student who never spoke up at school because of his slight speech impediment except when the others asked him a question that required him to say something with an ‘r’ in it. “How does a train travel?… A twain twavels on twain twacks…” This teasing made Rodney very sad and uncomfortable. That is, until the arrival of Camilla Capybara, the most outspoken, larger-than-life bully of a rodent. The class didn’t know what hit them when she barged in announcing her status among the others. The classroom of rodents were fearful for their lives. At the end of the school day, Miss Fuzzleworth chose a name out of the hat to indicate who would lead the group’s favourite game, Simon Says. To everyone’s surprise, Rodney’s name was chosen. Having been in Rodney’s class all year, the other rodents knew all about his mispronunciation of r’s so they understood fully what he meant when he said, “Simon says weed the sign or Simon says wap your paws awound your head”. The newcomer was not privy to this information and ended up pulling weeds and hitting herself in the head. What will happen when Rodney tells them all to “Go west”?

Children will delight in this playful story of the little guy overcoming the bully whether they are the little guy, the bully or the bystander.

Helen Lester has written other great stories with a clear message including, Listen Buddy, Score One for the Sloths, Tacky the Penguin and Three Cheers for Tacky.