The Rescuers

By Margery Sharp and Garth Williams

The classic children’s fantasy of two mice on a mission to save a Norwegian poet—and the inspiration for the beloved 1977 animated Disney movie.

“Miss Sharp’s delicate and sophisticated humor is good fun for wise children from age 10 to 100.” —Los Angeles Times

Miss Bianca is a white mouse of great beauty and supreme self-confidence, who, courtesy of her excellent young friend, the ambassador’s son, resides luxuriously in a porcelain pagoda painted with violets, primroses, and lilies of the valley. Miss Bianca would seem to be a pampered creature, and not, you would suppose, the mouse to dispatch on an especially challenging and extraordinarily perilous mission. However, it is precisely Miss Bianca that the Prisoners’ Aid Society picks for the job of rescuing a Norwegian poet imprisoned in the legendarily dreadful Black Castle (we all know, don’t we, that mice are the friends of prisoners, tending to their needs in dungeons and oubliettes everywhere). Miss Bianca, after all, is a poet too, and in any case she is due to travel any day now by diplomatic pouch to Norway. There Miss Bianca will be able to enlist one Nils, known to be the bravest mouse in the land, in a desperate and daring endeavor that will take them, along with their trusty companion Bernard, across turbulent seas and over the paws and under the maws of cats into one of the darkest places known to man or mouse. It will take everything they’ve got and a good deal more to escape with their own lives, not to mention the poet.

Margery Sharp’s classic tale of pluck, luck, and derring-do is amply and beautifully illustrated by the great Garth Williams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781590175712

Margery Sharp

Margery Sharp is renowned for her sparkling wit and insight into human nature, both of which are liberally displayed in her critically acclaimed social comedies of class and manners. Born in Yorkshire, England, Sharp wrote pieces for Punch magazine after attending college and art school. In 1930, she published her first novel, Rhododendron Pie, and in 1938, married Maj. Geoffrey Castle. Sharp wrote twenty-six novels, three of which—Britannia Mews, Cluny Brown, and The Nutmeg Tree—were made into feature films, and fourteen children’s books, including The Rescuers, which was adapted into two Disney animated films.

Reviews for The Rescuers

[laviniarossetti · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Rescuers is a brilliant book, all about how mice go and save a Norwegian prisoner from the dreaded Black Castle. It is said throughout the world that mice are the prisoner's friend; they have a council called the Prisoner's Aid Society, and they go into tremendous efforts to cheer them up. But nobody, even a mouse, can cheer a prisoner from the Black Castle.
But, as the chairwoman points out, they can rescue one. All the mice say that this is absolute nonsense; how could a tiny mouse (well, a normal size to them) ever free a prisoner from such a secure prison as that? Well, the old and grand secretary thought that also, but the chairwoman seemed adamant with the idea. She picked Miss Bianca, a fiendish and beautiful mouse that the world had heard of, to find a fantastically brave mouse to do the job. She also chose Mr. Bernard to pursuade the delicate mouse to do so. Miss Bianca, after a reluctant row with him, soon decided to find someone; and she was on her way to see him, when she came across a Norwegian, and very brave, pirate mouse.
Nils.
Now, Miss Bianca was hurriedly jotting down a particularly awful map of where the Prisoner's Aid Society was positioned, when Nils thought that she may as well come with him and show the way, instead of him mistaking a rosey hat for duck-and-goose-ponds. So, though her misson was, it seemed, already accomplished, Miss Bianca chose to go with him, and Bernard did too.
When at last the three mice found themselves at the very foot of the evil Black Castle, they thought nothing of where they were to sleep, and, moreover, live, over the course of the mission. "Mission Accomplished" would not, highly unfortunately, be shouted out at any time soon.
But the mission is indeed accomplished, and the Norwegian prisoner, who happens to be a poet, is finally rescued. He is set free, and the Rescuers win many medals, the 'Nils-and-Miss-Bianca-Medal', the 'Jean Fromage', and so and so. But then, the Black Castle owners have no prisoner. They need another. How will the Rescuers get along in the next sequel?

[allawishus_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn't even know that the Disney movie was based on a book, but I happened across the series when I was weeding. The first thing I absolutely love about it is the voice of the characters. Miss Bianca, especially, is well drawn, and I get such a kick out of her naive arrogance. She's adorable. I loved Bernard too, and stolid Nils. So many of the ironic asides were laugh out loud funny.What I didn't love about the book: the ending. I can't believe Miss Bianca and Bernard didn't get mouse married! I haven't read the rest of the series yet; maybe they do get back together, though the epilogue does not indicate that. I can understand why Disney changed the story since mice rescuing prisoners of possibly dubious character is not exactly the same as mice rescuing kidnapped little orphans. I thought it was interesting that the mice didn't seem to care what a prisoner had done or if he was really guilty. Weird. All in all though, I loved it more than the recent animal fantasies I've read, like the Anatole series or the Basil series. Sharp's mice are so much more flawed and real and lovable. I'm definitely going to see if we have the rest of the series at my library.

[amberthehuman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't realized this was a book first (although I probably should have guessed it - most of Disney's stuff starts as a fairy tale or book). I picked it up at the library ... and was impressed enough. The relationship between Miss Biance and Bernard is very interesting to watch ... and so I will continue reading this series.

[bostonian71 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cute and fun to read aloud, with illustrations that perfectly capture and complement the story. I agree with another reviewer that there's a little bit of gender stereotyping; at least Miss Bianca does her fair share of rescuing (though nowadays one would hope a writer couldn't get away with having the male characters do all the heavy lifting while the female one uses her womanly charms). I also find the ending frustrating in terms of Bianca and Bernard's relationship, and judging from the existence of actual Rescuers fanfic, other people felt the same way and found their own solution!

[aliceap-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think most people won't realize was a book before it was adapted by Disney into a film. Firstly, the illustrations which were done by Garth Williams (he also did Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web) are fantastic. They portray Bernard and Miss Bianca very differently from the movie version because their characters are almost entirely different. In fact, everything apart from there being talking mice who form a secret society that help humans was changed. Bianca is portrayed as a rather vacuous female content with her lot in life but Bernard makes her see herself in a slightly different light. The movie is the exact opposite where Bernard is full of timidity and it is Bianca that draws him out of his shell and shows him what he is truly made of. The film is about the rescue mission of an orphan girl named Penny from a truly horrific woman (who reminds me of Miss Hannigan from the musical Annie) while the book is about the rescue of a Norwegian poet from an impenetrable castle. The essential feeling of the two storylines is the same but if I had to choose between the two I'd probably go for the movie on this one (but you should still check out the beautiful illustrations).

[themulhern · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Extraordinarily well written, but in a sense written as much for adults as children. The feminism is overt, but simultaneously feminine. The romance is so splendidly funny. This was the start of a series, and the sequel, Miss Bianca, is nearly as good.

[vikkilaw · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A mouse-organized Prisoners Aid Society! A daring jailbreak from the depths of solitary confinement inside the grimmest, most fortified prison in the land! Prison activists: This is the book you should get for the young people in your lives! (Be aware that there seems to be another version that changes the story to neatly excise prison and solitary confinement. That's not the one that I'm raving about here)

Because the book was written in 1959, Miss Bianca falls into some gender stereotypes of what girls are seen as able to do. But she also has her own unique strengths, which prove to be integral to the rescue mission. You may want to have some dialogue about gender and ability with the young reader(s) in your life after you've both read the book.

[saroz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this as a kid—actually, three or four in the series—and coming back to it as an adult, my opinion didn't really change much. It's a sweet and frothy little story, but only because of how it's told: it's quite "jolly hockey sticks," with a narrative voice that feels as pampered and at a remove as Miss Bianca herself. It's all a bit camp, making tiny, fussy details of the mice's world important, while at the same time downplaying the true danger. The stereotypical Big Bad Cat obstacle, when he shows up, speaks in velvety, George Sanders-esque tones, calling Miss Bianca "my dear little lady." It's that kind of book, and I remember it feeling that way even when I was eight years old.All of this is slightly contrasted by Garth Williams' wonderfully textured drawings, which bring back the action and terror to the story—particularly with Mamelouk, the aforementioned Big Cat (who, in Williams' depiction, is little more than a giant mountain of fur with a face). Sharp has also chosen, oddly, to write about what is clearly a political prisoner who needs "rescuing"—but we never learn why, or which government is in charge of the Black Castle, or what relevance any of this has to the humans. It's just important—and we have to accept it—which feels more than a little underdeveloped and, again, removed. (I don't think it's any mistake that the sequel, Miss Bianca, focuses on a child that needs rescuing. Sharp clearly understood the weakness of that first book, and it's similarly no mistake that the second book forms most of the basis of the Disney film.) However, I offer all of this up less as criticism than as simple analysis. The Rescuers was very pleasant to read and frequently delightful, and I would be happy to spend more time in the company of these characters.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How did I miss reading this in my childhood? As I read every animal book I came across, I'm going to blame our public library for not having a copy.It's a story of perseverance in the face of impossible odds, bravery and selflessness by characters that should be hiding in fear, and of humor in difficult situations. And Garth Williams illustrations are a plus!

[delphica · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A really solid three, more like three and a half stars. I got this at the library because Lucy likes watching the Disney Rescuers movie a lot, and at some point I realized I had never read the book it is based on. That seems a little surprising to me, because it seems like the type of book I would have liked a lot -- talking animals, having adventures. Garth Williams did the illustrations, which made reading it for the first time almost uncanny, because of course it looked so familiar.We have talking mice who set off to rescue a poet from a prison. The poet is Norwegian, and the prison is in an unnamed country, but I would guess it's maybe in the Balkans? I went back and forth over whether the author was intending to make a point about a particular country or political ideology -- Why is a poet in prison? Are they rescuing Václav Havel? Who is not Norwegian, but you see what I mean. But then maybe the country is simply nameless to create a generalized air of mystery about a dramatic prison built into the cliffs.The oddest things, and I don't mean this as any particular criticism of the book, but as more of an observation that I don't think you'd see this in a book for kids written today, are the description of the relationship between the mouse Miss Bianca and the warden's cat, which read like something from a Hannibal Lecter book. The cat is like a sociopath obsessed with Miss Bianca. It's hilariously bizarre.There is a whole series of these books, and my impression is that the Disney movie draws on some of the following ones for details.

[pbadeer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although it’s trite to say – this is definitely a case where the book was better than the movie. Actually, in this case, it’s almost better to ask what did the movie have to do with the book??? Other than some mice, and something about the Prisoner’s Aid Society, the two have no correlation. The book has no little girl, no jewel filled skull, no alligators, no scary steamboat, and the only message in a bottle occurs in a completely different context. But after getting over the shock that Miss Bianca isn’t actually a member of the Prisoner’s Aid Society, the story was a fun read, and maintains its relevance 50 years later. Bernard (the only mouse who actually IS a member of the Prisoner’s Aid Society) recruits the assistance of Miss Bianca (yes, the names are staying true) who is actually a pet of the ambassador’s son in order to free a Prisoner held at the Black Castle. The problem is that the prisoner is Norwegian, so no one can speak to him, but coincidence of coincidences, the ambassador is being relocated to Norway, so they can recruit their third mouse, Nils, to speak to the prisoner.I stumbled across this book by accident, and until then had been unaware that the Disney movie had even been based on a book. Glad to have read it, and would recommend it for a good children’s or family read.