Hamilton Troll meets Rudy Rat

Hamilton Troll meets Rudy Rat, written by Kathleen J Shields with illustrations by Leigh A Klug and Carol W Bryant, is a kids’ story about overcoming fears. The creatures in the forest seem to be afraid of Rudy Rat because he does terrible things to everyone and seems to enjoy it when he takes other people’s belongings. Rosa Raccoon is scared that Rudy will continue his bad behavior when she tells Hamilton Troll about the problem within the forest. None of the forest creatures wants to befriend Rudy Rat, but Hamilton reminds them that no one should make them feel scared or nervous. He also asks if anyone has ever offered to play with Rudy. Turns out, Rudy is scared and is only being mean to the others because he is lonely and misunderstood. Hamilton Troll meets Rudy Rat teaches children that, no matter what, they should always give a person a second chance. Rudy Rat was lost and didn’t know how to make friends on his own, so he pushed everyone away by being a bully. This children’s story was an easy read and the moral of the story was very good. The colorful pictures made the story easy to follow because in the beginning you could actually see the fear in Rosa Raccoon’s eyes. Children should be encouraged to be friends with everyone, and learn to resolve issues in a good way with people they come in contact with on a regular basis.

Rudy Rat was not a book I intended to buy when I was told its focus is bullies I wanted to read it and am glad I did. I though Paws for friendship was very well thought out and I liked the idea of Troll patrol. I think more should be done to encourage this. I will buy other Hamilton books.

This book touches on the topic of bullying without accusing Rudy. I like how the children are encouraged to solve their problem together.