# Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

**Author:** Robert C. O'Brien
**Lexile:** 790L
**Grade range:** Grades 4–6
**Age range:** 9–12
**First published:** 1971
**Page count:** 233
**Genre:** Middle Grade Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780689710681`
**ISBN-10:** `0689710682`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/mrs-frisby-and-the-rats-of-nimh
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A widowed field mouse must move her family before the farmer plows over her home, and turns for help to a colony of intelligent rats who escaped a laboratory. O'Brien's Newbery Medal novel is a 4th-6th grade staple with strong thematic depth.

## Themes

- family
- courage
- science and ethics
- intelligence
- legacy

## Content notes

- animal testing
- peril

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 9+

## Where this book is assigned

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **required** · 5th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 4-5 Newbery Medal](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 6-8 exemplar](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)

### Missouri Mark Twain Readers Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · Missouri — [source: Missouri Mark Twain Readers Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians) — winner list 1972-2025 via Wikipedia — 1973 Mark Twain Award winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Missouri — [source: Missouri Mark Twain Readers Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians) — winner list 1972-2025 via Wikipedia — 1973 Mark Twain Award winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain_Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Missouri — [source: Missouri Mark Twain Readers Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians) — winner list 1972-2025 via Wikipedia — 1973 Mark Twain Award winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain_Award)

### Newbery Medal

- **recommended** · 3rd grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1972 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1972 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1972 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1972 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1972 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)

### Young Reader's Choice Award (PNLA)

- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1974 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1974 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1974 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)

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