I Was a Rat by Philip Pullman

I Was a Rat by Philip Pullman is a fairy tale about a boy who used to be a rat. He doesn't remember how he turned into a boy or why, but he does remember that it was about three weeks prior to showing up on Bob and Joan's doorstep in a page boy's uniform. Bob and Joan, an elderly couple who make shoes for the people of the kingdom, never had children of their own, so they decided to take the boy in. They name him Roger. Right away they notice that Roger has some peculiar habits - gnawing on pencils, ripping up sheets to make a nest, and no knowledge of silverware or cooked food. They take him to the hospital, the orphanage, even the police, but no one seems to want Roger. Finally, they put him in school. Unfortunately, Roger doesn't know how to behave in school and gets into trouble. The Royal Philosopher wants to meet Roger to perform some psychological tests on him. During the testing, Roger becomes frightened of a cat and runs away. From there Roger ends up in a freak show, as a thief, and is eventually caught by police who intend to have him exterminated! All the while, Bob and Joan continue to search for him. In the end, the brand new princess of the land has to come to Roger's rescue in an unexpected way.

This was a really cute fairy tale. Roger was such a sweet and innocent little boy! The people in the kingdom jumped right on the band-wagon after reading in the newspaper that he was a monster and needed to be exterminated. It's interesting what the media can get reasonable people to believe.