Summary: An outcast mouse seeks friendship with a young princess, who's mother died the year before from eating soup! All throughout the kingdom soup is forbidden. Although the story takes place in a castle with a princess the tale unravels with a different twist than your traditional folklore tales. Despereaux combats evil and hopefully regains respect from his mouse peers.
Citation: DiCamillo, K., & Ering, T. B. (2003). The tale of Despereaux: Being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press.
Impression: This was one of my favorite books I read all semester. At first I though I was in for a traditional folktale but the unique writing style and creativity of character building made the book special and one to remember. The good and evil that DiCamillo portraits is very vivid and real but the main characters are talking mice and rats. The illustrations bring on greater understanding of the characters with their exaggerated facial expressions. This is a wonderful book for all readers, young and old.
Review:
Tree (BookHive)
Poor Despereaux. He is too small, his ears are too big, and he just doesn’t seem to be able to get the hang of being a mouse. Drawn upstairs by the sound of music, Despereaux sees and is seen by the Princess Pea and immediately falls in love with her. However, his life is not a fairy tale and Despereaux will face many struggles before he finds his “happily ever after”. Banished to the dungeon for having been seen by the Princess, his quest begins. It is up to Despereaux to come to terms with his love of music, his love of the Princess, and his desire to be her knight in shining armor. An amazing tale that leads us through the darkness to the light of understanding as we are able to see how our lives affect the lives of those around us. An amazing novel worthy of the 2004 Newbery Medal.
T. [Review of the book The tale of despereaux by K. DiCamillo]. BookHive. Retrieved from http://bookhive.org
Ilene Cooper (Booklist)
Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul stirring as it is delicious. Despereaux, a tiny mouse with huge ears, is the bane of his family's existence. He has fallen in love with the young princess who lives in the castle where he resides and, having read of knights and their ladies, vows to "honor her." But his unmouselike behavior gets him banished to the dungeon, where a swarm of rats kill whoever falls into their clutches. Another story strand revolves around Miggery, traded into service by her father, who got a tablecloth in return. Mig's desire to be a princess, a rat's yen for soup (a food banished from the kingdom after a rat fell in a bowl and killed the queen), and Despereaux's quest to save his princess after she is kidnapped climax in a classic fairy tale, rich and satisfying. Part of the charm comes from DiCamillo's deceptively simple style and short chapters in which the author addresses the reader: "Do you think rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart." And as with the best stories, there are important messages tucked in here and there, so subtly that children who are carried away by the words won't realize they have been uplifted until much later. Ering's soft pencil illustrations reflect the story's charm.
Ilene Cooper (Booklist)
Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul stirring as it is delicious. Despereaux, a tiny mouse with huge ears, is the bane of his family's existence. He has fallen in love with the young princess who lives in the castle where he resides and, having read of knights and their ladies, vows to "honor her." But his unmouselike behavior gets him banished to the dungeon, where a swarm of rats kill whoever falls into their clutches. Another story strand revolves around Miggery, traded into service by her father, who got a tablecloth in return. Mig's desire to be a princess, a rat's yen for soup (a food banished from the kingdom after a rat fell in a bowl and killed the queen), and Despereaux's quest to save his princess after she is kidnapped climax in a classic fairy tale, rich and satisfying. Part of the charm comes from DiCamillo's deceptively simple style and short chapters in which the author addresses the reader: "Do you think rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart." And as with the best stories, there are important messages tucked in here and there, so subtly that children who are carried away by the words won't realize they have been uplifted until much later. Ering's soft pencil illustrations reflect the story's charm.
Cooper, I. (2003, July 1). [Review of the book The tale of despereaux by K. DiCamillo]. Booklist, 99(21).
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
In 2000 Kate DiCamillo got the Newbery Honor award for Because of Winn-Dixie (Candlewick, $5.99, ages 9-12), the story of a lonely young girl who finds sense of community because of a dog who discovers her. This year DiCamillo captured the Newbery itself with the help of an extraordinary character, Despereaux, the winning hero of The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread. He's a tiny mouse with a huge heart who loves a princess and would do anything for her. But he's not the only unique character, the book is divided between other remarkable personalities and their engaging stories. There's Roscuro, a dungeon-born rat who seeks light, Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who only wants to be listened to, and the Princess herself, who still grieves for her mother. Each character's desires, hopes and fears combine in this marvelous questing fantasy. This is a tale made for reading aloud and family enjoyment. If reading aloud is not your forte, there's a wonderful recording by Graeme Malcolm.
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
In 2000 Kate DiCamillo got the Newbery Honor award for Because of Winn-Dixie (Candlewick, $5.99, ages 9-12), the story of a lonely young girl who finds sense of community because of a dog who discovers her. This year DiCamillo captured the Newbery itself with the help of an extraordinary character, Despereaux, the winning hero of The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread. He's a tiny mouse with a huge heart who loves a princess and would do anything for her. But he's not the only unique character, the book is divided between other remarkable personalities and their engaging stories. There's Roscuro, a dungeon-born rat who seeks light, Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who only wants to be listened to, and the Princess herself, who still grieves for her mother. Each character's desires, hopes and fears combine in this marvelous questing fantasy. This is a tale made for reading aloud and family enjoyment. If reading aloud is not your forte, there's a wonderful recording by Graeme Malcolm.
Wilde, S. [Review of the book The tale of despereaux by K. DiCamillo]. Children's Literature. Retrieved from http://www.childrenslit.com/
Uses: This book could accompany a book display celebrating folklore because it has traditional folklore features with a modern storytelling twist. The book display could contain the traditional folklore like Robin Hood, Rapunzel, and King Arthur and the Round Table while including some modern folklore like the Tale of Despereaux, Rapunzel's Revenge, and the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. In a book display it is fun to be creative so that the display attracts other readers who may be turned off by the traditional folklore but may really enjoy the modern folklore.
Uses: This book could accompany a book display celebrating folklore because it has traditional folklore features with a modern storytelling twist. The book display could contain the traditional folklore like Robin Hood, Rapunzel, and King Arthur and the Round Table while including some modern folklore like the Tale of Despereaux, Rapunzel's Revenge, and the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. In a book display it is fun to be creative so that the display attracts other readers who may be turned off by the traditional folklore but may really enjoy the modern folklore.
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