Although young Montague Mad-Rat lives in--or rather, under--New York City, he know very few rats besides his mother, who makes hats, his father, who builds mud castles, and his globe-trotting Aunt Elizabeth. But Montague's life takes an abrupt turn for the eventful the stormy day he meets Isabel Moberly-Rat on his way home from Central Park. Home, for Montague, is an old sewer pipe. He now learns that there is a cityful of other rats out there who inhabit abandoned piers and lead considerably less eccentric and more luxurious lives than his family. What's more, these rats are in the midst of a grave crises. A human being has decided to turn their piers into parking lots, and an extermination campaign is already under way. As Montague stumbles into this wider, bewildering world, he long to help ratdom (and impress Isabel). But what can he do, when his only talent is painting the seashells his Aunt Elizabeth brings him from her travels? And to make matters worse, it turns out that a drunken uncle of his, Montague Mad-Rat the Elder, has made their name a standing joke in the rat world. For the first time in his life, young Montague finds out what it is to feel helpless and alone--little realizing that he has not only Isabel and his seashells on his side but his despised drunken uncle as well.

托尔·塞德勒美国著名儿童文学作家，出生于美国新罕布什尔州，目前定居纽约。擅长用细腻的笔触描述动物的故事。他的作品《刻薄的玛格丽特》（Mean Margaret）曾入围美国国家图书奖。《一只老鼠的传奇》作为被评论家誉为与《夏洛的网》齐名的作品，不仅被美国《出版者周刊》评为年度最佳图书，还曾被著名的奥古斯堡木偶剧院改编成木偶剧。

本书插图绘者是由美国著名设计师和童书插画家弗雷德·马塞利诺。马塞利诺以细腻丰富的写实画风著称于世，创作了许多经典作品，其代表作是凯迪克大奖作品《穿靴子的猫》，以及《坚定的锡兵》《我是鳄鱼》等。《一只老鼠的传奇》是他开始童书插画生涯的第一部作品。