The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that by directly addressing the reader, the author introduces many concepts to think and talk about. This book is an excellent read-aloud or discussion group book. It could be read to kids as young as 6 as long as they're OK with a little violence and scariness: Despereaux's tail is cut off with a kitchen knife, a girl's ears are boxed, and there's a rat-and-skeleton infested dungeon.
Families can talk about outsiders. Why are underdog tales so appealing? What makes you root for this little mouse and his friends? What other stories of brave and noble misfits can you think of? Are they all "happily ever after"?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Kate DiCamillo can do charming. Her debut novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, was simple and enchanting. Despereaux's tale is more complex and stylized: the author directly addresses the reader throughout, and the hero disappears from the story for nearly a hundred pages. But charm it has in buckets, perfectly matched by Ering's delightfully weird illustrations.
It also hits the trifecta for a children's book: it makes a great read-alone, read-aloud, or reading group book. It's easy to read, despite its length and sometimes advanced vocabulary, and perfectly paced and plotted to hold a middle-grade reader's interest. The direct address, reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's style, though considerably lighter in tone, makes it perfect for reading aloud and involving listeners in the reading. And that same way of talking to the reader allows the author to raise questions that would make for interesting literature group discussions.
So, reader, open the nicely rough-cut pages of this delightful little volume, and surrender to DiCamillo's time-tested, but somehow always fresh, tale of a runty outsider who proves, once again, that a large heart conquers all.
From The Book
Have I mentioned that beneath the castle there was a dungeon? In the dungeon there were rats. Large rats. Mean rats.
Despereaux was destined to meet those rats.
Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform.
Plot Summary:
Listen, dear reader, to Kate DiCamillo, and you will hear of Despereaux Tilling, a half-sized mouse with giant ears who is "such the disappointment" to his mama because he won't act like other mice. He is sickly, faints at loud noises, loves music, bright light, and reading books. Worst of all, because he has fallen in love with a human princess named Pea, he talks to humans. For this transgression he is condemned by the other mice, including his own father, to be sent to the dungeon to be eaten by the rats.
You will also, dear reader, hear of Roscuro the rat, who also loves light, but has a grudge against the princess. And of Miggery Sow, an abused, dimwitted, partially deaf serving girl who wishes to be a princess. And you will hear how the strange stories of these three outsiders intersect in a most unusual way. Reader, do you believe in happily ever after?
Related Books:
Other Books by Kate DiCamillo
The Tiger Rising
Because of Winn-Dixie
Other Talking Rodents
The Lemming Condition by Alan Arkin
Poppy by Avi
I, Houdini by Lynne Reid Banks
Shadow Walkers by Russ Chenoweth
Impossible, Possum by Ellen Conford
Maybe, a Mole by Julia Cunningham
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Brewster's Courage by Deborah Kovacs
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
A Rat's Tale by Tor Seidler
Tales at the Mousehole by Mary Stolz
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ViolenceDespereaux's tail is cut off with a kitchen knife, a girl's ears are boxed until they become misshapen and partially deaf. The rat and skeleton infested dungeon may be a bit much for sensitive younger readers. |
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