Lenny Lemmon and the Invincible Rat: The Invincible Rat

By Ben Davis and James Lancett

Hilarious school-based comedy for 7+ with black and white illustrations throughout. A modern day Just William!

Lenny Lemmon is looking forward to Olden Days Day at school. It's a chance to break the routine and try school as it was years ago. It explains the blackboard in the corner, his teacher's bad temper and why his friend Sam looks like Oliver Twist.

And Lenny's pleased with his own contribution, too. It's in a cardboard box at the back of the class at the moment because it's not yet time to shine. Except it escapes and ends up in the bowl of sick, sorry, gruel, that Amelia Kelly has brought up, sorry, in.

Soon there are small, gruelly footprints all over the classroom and also a lot of screaming because the rat that Lenny found by the back of the chip shop is FREE. It takes the arrival of cool new girl, Jessica Conrad, to distract everyone. Jessica has a plan to catch the rat but it'll cost them.

Can the three kids round up the rat before more damage is done? Or will they end up in the headmaster's office - again. Maybe, but they're going to need a bigger net...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nosy Crow Ltd
• Release date: May 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781805130062

Ben Davis

Ben Davis is an award-winning children's author. He lives in Tamworth with his ever-patient family and in his spare time enjoys rock climbing, white-water rafting and pretending to have adventurous hobbies.

Book preview

I wish you’d tell me what’s in that box, says my best friend, Sam.

We’re standing in the playground waiting for Ms Bottley to let us in. That’s how we roll now we’re in Year Five. None of that waiting-with-Mum nonsense any more. They drop us off at the gate and that’s that. It’s a great system.

Not a chance, I say, gripping it tight. It’s a surprise.

Sam stands back a little and fidgets with his fingers. He always does that when he’s nervous. But I thought I heard something moving in there, he says.

I tut and shake my head. "You and your

Sam is wearing a blue cloth cap, with a grey waistcoat buttoned all the way up to his neck. He doesn’t always dress like that. The school asked us to come dressed up as kids from history. We’re doing a whole day in

That means old-fashioned lessons, no modern technology and the teachers act like teachers from hundreds of years ago. They reckon it’s a good way to get us to learn about history or something, but that’s not the important bit. You see, this isn’t just

this is

OK, maybe that’s being a bit dramatic. It’s more of a competition. But it is a very important competition. The Head, Mr Greenford, announced that whichever Year Five class does best at Olden Days School will win a PRIZE.

I glance across the playground at class 5A. They’re lined up PERFECTLY, in total silence. Well, they would be. After all, they’re

They always get PERFECT grades, they always show PERFECT behaviour, and at the Christmas assembly they all sing like PERFECT angels. It’s enough to make me want to throw up, to be PERFECTLY honest.

I can tell by the way they look down their noses at us in class 5B that they think they will TROUNCE us in this

competition, just like they TROUNCE us in sports, spelling, singing and everything else in the world. Well, not if I have anything to do with it. You see, I guarantee that no one else has brought in what I have. When Mr Greenford sees it, he will award us FIRST PRIZE straight away. To be honest, I don’t know what the PRIZE is, but the PRIZE isn’t important. The main thing is that we beat 5A for the first time ever.

You think my uniform is OK? says Sam, running a hand down his waistcoat. I’ve gone for authentic Victorian.

I would give him