Richard Rat, a young orphan rat, is sentenced to Prudence Prison for the crimes of breaking and entering, and drinking stolen goods. But Richard's stay in prison proves short-lived. He escapes for the simple reason that he is a ratoholic and desperately needs a drink! Drifting aimlessly, Richard ends up squatting in the ceiling of a building, which, as fate would have it, turns out to be a private rat's school. From his hole in the ceiling, Richard begins to take notes and soon becomes the schoolmaster Mr Potts' most diligent student. When Potts' English School closes down, Richard moves into City Library and continues to educate himself. Yet out in the big, wide world, the philosophical Mr Rat is repeatedly put on the back foot in the school of hard knocks. Determined not to be defeated by his circumstances, a stronger and wiser rat emerges. "Richard Rat accidentally grew out of another book I was writing..." says the author. "I was writing this book about a boy who received a series of rather wacky comics for his birthday, called, The Adventures of Richard Rat. When I began to describe the comics, Richard quickly stood up and insisted he become a character in his own right!"