| That Pesky Rat | |
| Author: | Lauren Child |
| Illustrator: | Lauren Child |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Children's picture book |
| Publisher: | Orchard Books |
| Pub Date: | 23 May 2002 |
| Pages: | 32 pp |
| Isbn: | 978-1-84121-830-4 |
| Oclc: | 48979470 |
| Congress: | PZ7.C4383 Th 2002 |
That Pesky Rat is a British children's picture book written and illustrated by Lauren Child and published by Orchard UK in 2002. It won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in ages category 6–8 years[1] and it was commended runner up for the Kate Greenaway Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best-illustrated British children's book.[2]
Candlewick Press published a US edition in the same year.[3]
In 2008, a special UNESCO edition was published in the UK. All author and publisher profits from this book now go to support UNESCO projects around the world.
The story is narrated by a rat who wishes he could live the life of a proper pet. He visits several friends who are proper pets, including a chinchilla and a cat. However, he doesn't like the way any of them live. In the end, he puts up signs, asking if there is any one who wants a rat as a pet, and goes to a pet store. He is finally taken home from the store by an old man with poor eyesight who sees him in the display window and mistakes him for a cat. In the end, the rat says that he doesn't mind pretending to be a cat and that he likes his life as a pet.