Tale of Despereaux

DiCamillio, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux: being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. Candlewick, 2003. ISBN-10: 07636-1722-9


Plot Summary
Despereaux is a strange mouse, with ears too big and a body too small. Also, he likes to read and listen to music. When he falls in love with the Princess Pea (a human) and the other castle mice see him talking to her, Despereaux is sent to his certain death in the dungeon.

In the dungeon, Roscuro is a strange rat, who is enchanted by light and doesn't enjoy torturing the dungeon's prisoners. Roscuro escapes the dungeon and visits a party in the castle's banquet hall. But the presence of a rat isn't appreciated, and Roscuro returns to the dungeon vowing to seek revenge for his poor reception.

Miggery Sow, a poor mistreated servant girl, is Roscuro's accomplice in his revenge plot against the castle.

Now Desperaux, like a knight in shining armor, is on a quest to save the princess.

Critical evaluation
The Tale of Despereaux is a very charming tale, sure to warm readers' hearts. Despereaux is unfailingly noble, but the evil Roscuro turns out to be not so evil. Also, the narrator's many asides to the reader make the tale sounds like a bedtime story, with lots of commentary and rhetorical questions. The illustrations, which were dark and done in smudged pencil, didn't fit the tone of the book. Recommended to fans of animal stories and fans of The Princess Bride.

Readers Annotations
Like a knight in shining armor (well, more like a mouse wearing a red thread and a sewing needle for a sword) Despereaux sets off to save his princess (she really is a princess) from the evil dragon (okay, an evil rat. A mouse eating rat).

Information About the Author
Kate DiCamillo grew up in Clermont, Florida. She now lives in Minneapolis. Although she is single and has no children, she is the aunt to three children. The Tale of Despereaux won the Newberry Medal.

Genre
Fantasy
Animal adventure

Curriculum Ties
none

Booktalking Ideas
Despereaux is an unusual mouse, but as we all know, usual people are destined for great adventure.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 3-6 (Younger children may like the tale read aloud)

Controversial Subject Matter and Defense of Ideas
none

Why Book Included
Now a popular motion picture