Ratbags 2: Midnight Mischief by Tim Harris, illustrated by Shiloh Gordon

Title: Ratbags 2: Midnight Mischief

Author: Tim Harris, illustrated by Shiloh Gordon

Genre: Humour

Publisher: Puffin

Published: 2^nd May 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 192

Price:  $14.99

Synopsis: The second book in the stupendously rat-tastic Ratbags series, from the award-winning, bestselling author and funny man, Tim Harris.

When rule-loving, leaf-collecting, piano-playing Jigsaw was naughty for good, he dropped his ratbag friends in a bit of bother – he gave them a good reputation! This nightmare situation needs fixing, pronto, and Ripple and Onion are the best ratbags for the job. But while performing some ratty mayhem, they fall into Cracker the cat’s claws… Will their midnight mischief turn them into a midnight snack? Or will Jigsaw find a way to save them? Again!

~*~

Rule-loving rat Jigsaw is back – and he is still making his bed, playing the piano and collecting leaves instead of breaking rules and causing havoc. But after the events of the last book, where he was naughty for good, he got his new friends Ripple and Onion in trouble – for making the front page of the newspaper for all the wrong reasons! Poor Jigsaw thought he was doing something naughty that would make him look good to the rats. Instead, he’s given them all a good, angelic reputation – and the most important rat in the city, Ratty McRatty doesn’t like that at all! So, the rats are set a task to get onto the first page of the newspaper for being naught – and Ripple and Onion are determined to get there. But when their midnight mischief lands them in the cat-astrophic claws of neighbourhood cat, Cracker, Jigsaw will have to muster all his courage to save them – and hopefully, restore the reputation of rats as being naughty.

The second Ratbags book follows on nicely from the first book – we know who the main characters are now and what they are like, but we still get the fun repetition of Jigsaw’s routine, the kind of thing that a lot of books for younger readers do – repeating the same information at the start, to draw the reader back in, and remind them they are in familiar territory, or to let new readers know important character information if they haven’t read the first book. Tim Harris’s new series looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, and much like all the dog, bird, and cat highly illustrated novel series, I think it is going to be a hit, because who doesn’t like animals misbehaving or solving crimes or being a little bit out there with the things they’re doing? I think these books are lots of fun, and seeing rats is really cool, because we’ve got cats, we have pigeons and there are dogs – and probably lots of others I am leaving out because of how many there are. We also get to meet a new rat, Fancy Rat, and the most important rat in the city, Ratty McRatty.

Tim Harris also uses humour and puns to his advantage – ensuring that there will be laughter galore, especially with the extended repetition of great at one stage, and the presence of a snail. Snails are slow, so the speed of the snail is used a few times to measure the action in a clever way – I loved this aspect as it showed that Tim has thought about how each element fits into the book and series – I think the snail, like Cracker the Cat could be back as well. And I loved the contrast of the rats with personality – our main characters – against the rats that are there to illustrate what it can be like if everything thinks and acts in the same way.

I loved the teamwork in this book, because it shows readers of all ages how working together is beneficial and how it can form connections and friendships you never thought you would have, like Jigsaw, Ripple, and Onion. I loved that these three are always there for each other – how they have all had an influence on each other for good and bad. It shows that it is really cool when friends are all different and illustrates that everyone is different, and that people can change. Even if it is in small ways. I also liked that Jigsaw, Onion, and Ripple stand out as individuals compared to the other rats who follow the crowd. To me, this was and is an important message about being true to yourself, and being your own person – and not following the crowd to fit in. I think that is why Jigsaw is my favourite – because he still does what makes him happy and makes him unique even as he wants to fit in somewhere. He still has aspirations and dreams that make him who he is – and he lets kids know it is okay to have different dreams to other kids.

As I said, I loved the teamwork aspect of this novel and series – but remember, work as a team for good, not bad! This is a great follow up and the next two in the series look like they are going to be fun as well.