Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
March 13th, 2009 by 
tinakamo
How did you feel about the idea of being rich before we read this story? Did you want to be rich? How do you feel about it now? Did Lynne Jonell’s story change your mind about this or anything else?
Posted in Emmy and the ISR, Literature Discussions | 
50 Comments »
March 13th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Before I read this book I wanted to be rich.But when I kind of got in the middle of the book I changed my mind cause sometimes when your parents focus too much on their money they forget all about what really matters.I can imagine if I had to spend almost haft of my life with an EVIL nanny!
March 13th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I did kind of want to be rich before but now I feel like I would not want to be rich if I became rich.before we read this book I really thought that rats are gross but now I think that they are kind of cool.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Lynne Jonell kind of changed my mind because I didn’t likely know that rich people can make that much trouble like bragging and teasing.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Well I didn’t really want to be rich before because I wouldn’t really want to be selfish. At first I didn’t like rats but after our class finished the story, I thought rats were kind of cute, so Lynne Jonell did change my mind about rats but didn’t change my mind about being rich!
March 13th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Before I read this book I felt like
my family was so gifted to be rich.
Now I can understand why some rich
kids would want to be a normal kid.
Probably because they don’t want
their parents paying so much attention to their money.
March 13th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I did want to be rich before we
read this story because I am
rich all ready. Yes, because I can
buy lots of stuff. I feel the same.
No.
March 13th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I did not want to be rich before I read this book because I think my life is great the way it is. I don’t feel any different then how I did before I read the story.Lynne Jonell’s story didn’t change my mind about being rich. But it changed my mind about liking rats! I wonder where Lynne Jonell got the idea to write about rat’s with secret powers that barely anybody knows about?
March 13th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
At first I wanted my family to be the first richest family in the world but when we read Emmy and the incredible shrinking rat I still kind of wanted to be rich but when I get rich maybe my parents wont care about me.
March 13th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I think that being rich was not that bad and not that good but in the middle.
When I read this book I wanted to be rich but now I say nah.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I thought that the rat was wierd
at first then I thought it was cool.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Before was I reading this story I kept on telling my parents “mom, I want to be rich” but somewhere in the story Emmy had MILLIONS of toys and some of it she didn’t even like it. So now when I read this book I don’t want to be as rich as I wanted to be.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
If I was rich I would share my money with my family.Reading Emmy AND the Incredible Shrinking Rat made me happy.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I used to think being rich would
be cool but when I heard the
part in the book that Emmy had
alot of toys and she didn’t
play with some ,I didn’t want to be rich anymore.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
At first I didn’t like mice or rats
because I had one in my house four
times but now I think there pretty
neat.I don’t really like rich people because they tease people.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I want to be rich sometimes.I use to hate rats but after I read this book not so much any more.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Before we read the story I said to my mom, “why can’t we be rich?”, but after we read the book I changed my mind because I am afraid that my parents will forget about me and my brother. Before we read about the story when my teacher held out the book I said in my mind, “yuk!” But after we read the story I changed my mind. And now I think that rats are kind of cute.
March 16th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
When we read the book I got the idea of being rich. I thought, “why can’t my family be rich?” My family even saved our money before I got the idea, but it didn’t happen!
March 16th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Comment on Cheanas comment:
Ithink your comment is a little bit funny at the very end.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Aloha to all of you from Ms. Nakamoto’s class! You have some very interesting thoughts about riches. Ratty has a few thoughts, too.
I can tell you this, as the author– I do not think the problem with Emmy’s parents was that they were rich. The problem was the EVIL Miss Barmy, and the bad things she did to make them not care about their daughter! But it was fun to show that, even if someone has lots and lots of toys, it doesn’t really matter compared with being loved by your parents.
In my opinion, if you are loved, you are REALLY rich!!!
Oh, and Ratty’s thoughts? He says he WOULD like to be rich, because then he would build a giant swimming pool with a big long twisty slide for himself and all his rodent friends, and plant palm trees all around.
Why? Because then he could pretend he lived in Hawaii! (Right now, sadly, he lives in Minnesota, and the snow is just barely starting to melt.)
March 17th, 2009 at 10:40 am
from Ian to Lynne Jonell
How did you feel after you wrote
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat and Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls? Were you tired? I sometimes get tired when I write a long book. Do you have a title for the other Emmy book yet?
March 17th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Hi, Ian!
You are so right– I WAS tired! But I was happy, too, because I had finished it. I just wished I could have gone back in time and been a kid again, to read it for the first time, and see if I would have thought it was good.
Good for you, for writing books yourself. It takes a lot of time, doesn’t it? The title of my third Emmy book will (I think) be “Emmy & the Rats in the Belfry”. But who knows? Sometimes titles change!
March 17th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Dear Lynne Jonell,
When did you get so interested in writing books? I think your book Emmy has a lot of voice in it.I think it is really scary to have a rat in your house cause I just had a rat or mouse in my house about a week ago. Oh yeah, what’s your favorite rodent cause I don’t have one.
March 17th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Lynne Jonell
Are you serious about writing a whole series of Emmy books? Well if you are then…
PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE SEND THEM TO OUR CLASS!!!
Do you like writing Emmy books? I hope you do ’cause you are my #1 author!
March 17th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hi Lynne Jonell,
How long did it take you to write
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking
Rat? What is it like to be a
professional author? Do you write
poems too? Well, we like to read and write poems too.
March 17th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Dear Lynne Jonell,
Have you ever been to Hawai’i?
Well if you haven’t, here is a wacky idea! Why don’t you come and visit our class?
P.S.
PLEASE!
March 17th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Chaeana, I got interested in writing in third grade. But it was in sixth grade that I REALLY knew I wanted to write for kids when I grew up. And I think my favorite rodent is RATTY!
About visiting Hawai’i– I’d love to. I did once, a few years ago. Maybe someday I will be invited to do some school visits there, who knows?
Te Kaha, thanks so much! Yes, I’m serious, and if my publisher will publish them, I will write them. I do have a new book coming out next fall that is not an Emmy book, though– but I think you will like it anyway. It is called “The Secret of Zoom”.
Kala’i, it took me nine years to write Emmy #1. It took me three years to write Emmy #2. It took me two years to write “The Secret of Zoom”. I guess I am getting faster! And it is fun to be a professional author– MOST of the time! (But Ratty is the one who REALLY likes to write poems.)
March 17th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Dear Lynne Jonell,
I think Ratty has some WACKY
thoghts. He must want to be in
Hawai’i because it’s VERY cold
in Minnesota. I also think it
is cool that you make Ratty fall in the book.
March 17th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Dear Lynne Jonell,
I think you should come to Hawaii so you can do some research on my home state. You would love it! Then you can have Ratty take a vacation in Honolulu. Pick me to take you around–I make the best spam musubi’s, I know where to go for the best local food, and we could go swimming at Ko Olina, my favorite beach.
March 17th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Dear Lynne Jonell,
THANKS a lot for responding back I really hope if you get invited to a school that it will be our school!
P.S.
Our class is papa Hawai’i Loa,room 15
Kamehameha!
March 17th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Hi Nadia! It was actually the artist, Jonathan Bean, who made Ratty fall. And have you seen that you can flip the pages in the second book, too, and there is a different thing that happens in the margins?
Brycen, what a wonderful invitation! I have no idea what a spam musubi is, but it sounds like it might possibly become Ratty’s favorite food!
And Chaeana, it is fun for me to respond back now and then. It is a little break from writing, when I am trying to think of what happens next.
Would you believe, Ratty and Sissy are going to search for their mother in Schenectady?
March 18th, 2009 at 6:34 am
I didn’t realy want to be rich before we read Emmy.Lynne Jonell did not change my mind about being rich.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Dear famous author/Lynne Jonell,
So, I have heard that your grandmother lived up to
101. I think that is amazing cause I don’t know anyone in my family that lived that long. I think it is awesomific that I can talk to a famous person through blogging. I hope you make a movie or show for Emmy!!!!!!
March 18th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Lynne Jonell,
Do you know the title of your books 4 & 5? If you do, would you, could you, maybe, um, tell us? If not then we’ll just have to find out when it comes out, which is what will probably happen. If my mom does not know who you are I’ll tell her it’s the BEST author in the WORLD! With a capitol B-E-S-T!!!
PPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEAAAAAASSSSSE WRITE BACK.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Before I read the book I wanted to be rich but when I read the book I didn’t want to be rich( alittlebit) because if my parents and I were rich we would be paying more attention to our money and not other stuff.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Lynne Jonell,
Do you have any family members on Oahu? If you do, what are their names? Did you ever taste WAIOLA SHAVE ICE? If you come to Oahu I live in Ewa Beach. If you like cats and bunnies I have 1 cat and 1 bunny.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Hi again! Naiya, I’m glad I didn’t change your mind… I wasn’t really trying to change anyone’s mind. I was just trying to write a good story.
Dear famous student Chaeana, I love the word awesomific! And I have another one for you– Awesomesauce! (As in, “I am made of awesomesauce, buster!”)
And I would love to make a movie of Emmy, but it is not up to me. It is up to the movie people and my publisher. But keep your fingers crossed!
Te Kaha, I don’t have titles, really… I talked on the other comment thread about what I thought books 4 & 5 might be about. I have considered the title “Emmy & the Rats of Faraway Island” for the title of book #5, but I really have no firm idea yet, because I haven’t even begun to write the story.
And thanks for the “best author in the world” comment! Very fun to hear! Make sure you look at “The Secret of Zoom” next fall when it comes out, and then you can see if you like that one better or the Emmy books better. It might be tough to decide!
Kalena, you are probably rich already– if you have parents who love you, you are rich in love!
Hi Auli’i, no, I do not have any family members on Oahu, but my husband’s father served in the navy there during World War II. And I have never tasted Waiola Shave Ice, but I think it sounds like it is made of Awesomesauce!
And I LOVE cats and bunnies (but don’t tell Ratty about the cats; he HATES them.)
March 19th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Aloha ~ I have enjoyed reading the comments on this blog.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Dear Lynne Jonell,
Since we sent a picture of us to you can you send a picture of you to us?
Please?
March 20th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Dear Lynne Jonell,
Is Ratty a real rat? What is going
to be your margin for your next three Emmy books? Do you get to
decide or is it Jonathan Bean?
March 20th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Lynne Jonell,
Thank you for writing back.Even though my class asked so much,I still have soooooooo many more questions I have to ask you like… do you have brothers & sisters, did you write books all your life or did you have a burning desire ever since you were a little kid? But what I really want to ask you is was it really hard to write books?
please write back.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Dear Lynne Jonell,
I hope that Ratty has a lot fun on his vacation.I think it was smart that you did a review in the second book cause some people might have not read the first Emmy!I am sad that you will not be blogging with us for a while.
PLEASE TYPE BACK
March 20th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Lynne Jonell,
I hope you can take time off to come to Hawai’i for a visit with Raston. Because we all want to see you, famous author.
PLEASE TYPE BACK!
March 20th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Dear Lynne Jonell,
I can’t wait till you send Ratty to
Hawaii in May. I wonder if he will go to 7-11 and buy some of our good tasting food. you might want to ask Ratty if he could stop by Brycen’s
house to get some of his faumous
musubis.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Dear Lynne Jonell,
I am VERY excited to blog with Ratty!!I have a question for Ratty(since he had some not so very nice comments!)How do you like it in Minnesota?Well cause trust me, I’ve been piled with snow once when I was in California.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Lynne Jonell,
Is Ratty real? Does Ratty like water parks? Because I love water parks and Ratty might like Target. We just got some here in Hawaii.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Aloha, Auli’i’s mom! I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s comments, too.
And what a lot of great questions, you guys! You can find the answers to many of them on my website. Here it is: http://www.lynnejonell.com
Some things on the site are more interesting to teachers and parents, and other things are more interesting for kids. Poke around and see what interests YOU! I can tell you that you’ll find a picture of me, and an illustrated story of when I was little, and some drawings other kids have made for me, and a make-your-own bookmark you can print out and color, and a word-find puzzle, and writing tips, and a teacher’s guide, and some books I recommend, and– well, I can’t list it all!
Yes, Cayli Rose, it was great to see your class picture and match the faces with the names I have come to know on this blog. Find my picture on my website and you’ll know what I look like, too!
Tanner, Ratty IS a real rat– in my head. He is the ratty half of me (Emmy is the other half!)
Interesting question about the margin. What happens is, between me, the editor, the art director, and Jonathan, we come up with various ideas for what the margin should look like, and then Jonathan tries to figure out how to draw it. For Troubled Girls, the editors had the idea of having it be a shoe falling down from the shelf. It was my idea to have it be a rat, instead– and I thought the rat could be descending on fishing line, sort of swinging back and forth. Then Jonathan took that idea, and made it his own by having the rat try to climb the fishing line (and fail, and climb again.) This is what we call “artistic collaboration”!
We won’t decide on the margin until the book is actually written. Then we’ll try to illustrate one of the scenes actually in the book.
TeKaha, here are some answers:
1) I have two sisters and one brother, and I am the third child.
2) I first got interested in writing when I was in third grade– and I was in sixth grade when I knew for sure that I wanted to write books for kids when I grew up.
3) It IS hard to write books. But it is also very fun. I think the best things to do are hard and fun, both. Like, if you play a sport or a musical instrument, it is hard sometimes to practice and get better. But when you DO, you are very proud of your skills that you have worked so hard to learn, and it is all kinds of fun to play at a higher level than ever before!
The thing I like about writing is that I can just keep getting better, and writing more, probably until I die!
March 20th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Wow, Papa Hawai’i Loa, it looks like you are really enjoying your blog and I am impressed by your thought provoking observations and questions. You are so fortunate to not only have a blog to express your thoughts and opinions but you have the actual author writing to you. I am really enjoying the blog and am so proud of all of you with your thoughtful comments. Thanks to Mrs. Nakamoto for making this blog available to your class and Mahalo to Lynne Jonell for giving our children such an amazing experience, both through your books and especially by interacting with the class in this blog! They will remember this amazing experience for a very long time. Cayli Rose is totally ecstatic about the books, Lynne Jonell and the class blog! Keep up the great work, Papa Hawai’i Loa and Happy Spring Break to all of you!!
March 28th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I think it would be hard to write if she lives till one hundred and one.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Aloha!
I’m finally catching up with your blogging and am so happy with what I’ve read so far! When I was in 2nd grade, I thought it would be great to be rich, but now that I’m older, I’ve learned to be content with what I have and to enjoy what’s going on in my life now. I have relatives who are rich, and ones that are not. Luckily, I’ve seen that happiness and love does not depend on that. 🙂
My favorite part of the book was when Ms. Barmy was bitten by Ratty and shrunk. Then, when they all the took a ride with the rodents to see the professor at the Antique Rat – fabulous!!!
April 27th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
When I (at home) read this book, it made me change my mind about being rich. At first I wanted to be rich so I could get whatever I wanted. Now I know that being rich isn’t the best idea. If I ever became rich, I would spend it on things that I REALLY need, like a home, food, and other stuff.