Sir Terry Pratchett's ingeniously upended tale of the Pied Piper, has a roving band of highly intelligent rats as its heroic protagonists. Matthew Holmes' script and songs capture the plot in a captivating musical for children to perform and everyone to enjoy.

Under the lazily, streetwise command of Maurice, a speaking cat, the rats prepare to pull their practiced scam on the town of Bad Blintz. But something's up and our heroes are scampering straight into someone else's scam - and it's not nice.

Perfect for upper primary school performances, there are parts small and large for rats - heroic, villainous and oppressed - for humans on the good side and the bad, and of course for a cat named Maurice.

The complete performance pack with its photocopiable script and piano vocal score includes everything you need for rehearsing and presenting the final show, plus there's full audio support on CD so you don't need to read a note of music.

To present a public performance of this musical you will need a performance licence. Simply email education@harpercollins.co.uk or phone 01484 668 148 and request a Performance Licence Application Form.

This book is part of a book series called Collins Musicals .

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

There are 76 pages in this book. This book was published 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Matthew Holmes is an experienced children's music educator, professional musician and writer based in the UK. His works include the Christmas musical Shine and several children's hit singles in A&C Black's popular Songsheets series, including Viking Rock and Hot off the Press. He is currently a music specialist in a special needs school in Staffordshire. Terry Pratchett's previous children's titles include Truckers, Diggers, Wings, Only You Can Save Mankind, Johnny and the Dead (which was successfully televised) and Johny and the Bomb, which won a Smarties Prize Silver Medal and was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. He lives in Wiltshire