The Tale of Despereaux is about a little mouse who lives in a castle with his family and a community of other mice, a rat who lives in the castle's dungeons, and a servant girl named Miggery Sow.
Despereaux is not like the other mice. He is extremely small with huge ears. He doesn't act like the other mice. He falls in love with the princess and is sentenced to the dungeon to be killed by the rats.
Roscuro is a rat living in the dark dungeons. He wants revenge on the Princess Pea for how she looked at him. Roscuro Makes a plan with Mig to get the princess to come down to the dungeon. Despereaux heres the plan and its up to him to save the Princess Pea.

This wasn't my favorite book. I did not like how the aurthor would stop in the middle of the story and talk to the reader. This book had alot of dying and talk about death.

I wouldn't use this book in my classroom. There was name calling in the book, which kids would probably start calling each other. There was alot of talk about death and a girl being hit in the head by her master. I wouldn't want my class reading these things.

This children's novel is a good example of fantasy becasue the author personifies the Despereaux, a mouse, his mouse family, and the rats to have human like characteristics and motives. In the tale Despereaux is born as a different sort of mouse who doesn't fit in. After talking to the Princess, a human, Despereaux falls in love with her, but is excommunicated and sent to the Dungeon where the rats live. Desperaux escapes, but learns of a plot by a rat to harm Princess Pea. Through bravery and a great deal of wit Despereaux saves the day and learns a great deal about himself in the process. ( )

Despereaux was born an unusual mouse among the colony of mice, for he did things that were considered abnormal by his family and when he fell in love with the Princess Pea of the kingdom, he broke every rule made for mice and was sentenced to go into the dungeon with the rats and never come back. What happened to Despereaux? Read this classic tale of how rediculous and powerful emotions are and how different life can be depending on the different experiences you had. ( )

Kate DiCamillo is one of the most consistently excellent writers around. Each book is so different but they are all wonderful. This tale of a small mouse on a quest to same a princess from the evil rats was just wonderful. Her unique way of presenting this story and talking to the reader really worked. This would be a great read aloud and would lead to some great discussions. ( )

Fairy tales generally follow a formulaic plot. born of mundane, humble or destitute beginnings, heroes and heroines dream big, face the fire and, not without losing a limb, literally or metaphorically, they save the day, often bringing home a lesson.

What we forget, after much Disnifying, is that our beloved stories from childhood did not have squeaky clean beginnings. The first time I heard a telling of the original Little Mermaid, I almost cried (though my grandmother will tell you that, at seven, I cried at the Disney version as well). It’s gruesome and sad and a little cruel.

Like many of the Grimm stories, Kate DiCamillo’s Tale of Despereaux is a little challenging to read at times due to graphic descriptions, mentions of child abuse or other sad scenes. This, of course, detracts little from the actual plot or message but it is something I found myself wondering and eventually reconciling with the above intro reference to other fairy tales.

The tale, as mentioned above, has all of the classic themes of tried and true children’s stories. The outcast, the ugly duckling, the weak link, Despereaux is smaller than a mouse should be with ears twice his size. He is expected to die as many of his mother’s children have. He is fearless of most things that send mice scurrying, loves to read, you know, the usual iconoclast quirks. He also has a slightly worrisome attachment to human sentimentalities and eventually finds himself head over heels in love with the princess of the castle in which the mice reside. His parents and peers are not amused and do their best to shun him from the community, sending him to no uncertain death in the dungeon.

Of course, the stringent rules of Mouse Society can’t be the only evil in a great tale of woe and adventure. Along the way, our snowball of a story picks up Chiaroscuro, a rat who, like Despereaux, has a habit of breaking the mold, a habit which once landed him in hot soup and landed the entire kingdom in a lot of hot water and Miggery Sow, a beaten down, dim witted country girl with princess dreams.

The story is one of love and compassion beating out cold and fear. Bravery and kindness in the face of all desperation are rewarded and forgiveness and change of heart are paramount. Aside from the aforementioned bits where I thought I might have to squint through the violence and cruelty, the book is fantastic and has all of the winning components of the time tested stories of old. ( )

it is soooo good and wonderful! ( )

This story is about a little tiny mouse, a beautiful princess, a slow witted girl, and a conspiring rat. All these characters struggle with the universal theme of the book -good and evil; light and dark. The book can be a bit disturbing for younger children because the rat is sinister. He torments the prisoners and kidnaps the princess with the idea of killing her. Also the slow witted girl, Mig, was sold as a child and was abused so much she could barely hear. As an adult these things didn't seem so disturbing to me because I knew this book was fantasy and I felt like DiCamillo wasn't overly descriptive in the parts that had to deal with Mig's clouts to the ear etc. For a younger reader this might be shocking. I really like the illustrations in the book. Other than being beautiful, they really helped me visual the book. I enjoyed how the author spoke to the reader in the book asking them if they knew certain words and other various things. Some readers might find this distracting and others might really enjoy it. I think I would recommend this to specific students who would like an author talking to them or fairy tales.
I think this could be used in the classroom as a read aloud from certain excerpts to demonstrate the themes of light and darkness being paralleled with good and evil. ( )

Kearsten says: This is one of those books I've been meaning to read for awhile - it's an award winner, and it involves talking animals, which I've been fond of ever since I fell in love with Bunnicula. Sadly, The Tale of Despereaux has no vampires...

The story is both charming and creepy, involving a heroic mouse in love with a human princess, as well as evil rats who delight in others' pain. What I liked about this story is that overcoming the evil isn't *easy*, and not eveything ends wrapped up in a happily-ever-after ending. (Oh, and if you've seen the movie and not read the book - they messed it up. Seriously. Adding characters, random plot changes, and changing a bad rat to a 'Oops! I guess I'm not so bad, after all!' rat were very poor choices)

Having listened to the book, I expect my opinion of the book has not a little bit to do with the reader, Graeme Malcolm, who reads with enthusiasm and expertise, infusing the different characters with differing voices and even accents...I'm a sucker for accents... ( )

The illustrations of Timothy Basil Ering get five stars. There's no denying the beauty of his work.

The story, though. Eh. I was imagining this book to be something entirely different from what it actually was, so it was a disappointment. I found the book at times to be depressing and a bit disturbing, and I don't like how things ended. It's a sweet tale, sure, but it could have been so much better. ( )

My 10 year old daughter bought this book, but put it down after reading just a few pages and moved on to "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." There's no accounting for some people's tastes! I read it yesterday while my husband was watching Monday Night Football. Interesting mix of sweet (tiny mouse falls in love with a princess) and frightening (girl, who is sold into slavery by her father, beaten by her master almost daily; dungeon full of rats; mothers dying, etc.) - the concept reminded me of the original, non-Disney versions of fairy tales.
I agree with some other reviewers that the author's habit of addressing the reader directly is a bit distracting at times, but for younger readers I'm sure that helps to leaven the frightening aspects of the story.
I liked the way that the story was divided into books, each focusing on a different character. Changing the perspective of the story helped to flesh it out considerably.
I'm going to suggest to my daughter (now 11) that she give this book another try - she absolutely devoured "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "The Graveyard Book," so "The Tale of Despereaux" certainly won't be too frightening for her. ( )

Despereaux is a mouse who falls in love with a princess, Pea. Pea's mother dies when a rat named Roscuro fell in her soup. Roscuro is after revenge and wants to harm the princess by tricking a slave in the house, Mig, into thinking she could be a princess if she does what Roscuro says. Despereaux helps Pea actually save the day with her large heart and they all lives happily ever after.

The narrator in this story kept actually addressing the reader as "Reader." It was nice but broke the believability of this already unbelievable tale. I loved all the characters, like Cook. This tale was told from different points of view and it allowed the reader to understand how the pieces if the puzzle fit together. I hope when I teach, we have the chance to read this great book!

In a class setting, we could watch the movie and make a Venn diagram that shows the similarities and differences. We also could read other books about hose who have dreams of being something when they feel like they don't belong (the Ugly Duckling, Cinderella.)

This is the story of a mouse who is a bit different from the rest of the mice in his clan. For one thing his ears are a bit larger than normal. For another, he can read. Instead of just foraging for food, this curious mouse gives new meaning to the term "a mouse about the house." Along the way Desperaux meets some rats, a jailer, and a princess. This is a cute little tale that is entertaining for the young and the young at heart. ( )

My daughter couldn't be bothered to finish this, so I thought I'd read it. I can see why she got fed up. Things happen but rather slowly, and then they don't last for long enough - any sense of jeopardy is dispelled but the author's stylistic device of constantly talking directly to the reader in between the little action there is with preachy little moral asides.

The four main characters are rather wishy washy - the princess has a tinge of Veruca Salt (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl) rather than pure niceness about her, the baddie rat is too 'light'weight for a real villain, the serving girl is just plain stupid, and Despereaux - our little mouse hero just stumbles from situation to situation being cute. ( )

“He can’t live,” says Despereaux’s father. “ ‘Not with his eyes open like that.’ But reader, he did live. This is his story.” The narrator of The Tale of Despereaux gently guides us through the dark and haunting parts of existence that this unlikely hero uncovers in his travels. Despereaux is a mouse who would rather read a book than eat the glue that binds its pages together.

Full review:
http://www.twentybyjenny.com/812Books... ( )

The Tale of Despereaux is the story of a mouse who has grader aspirations than normal mice. He is enchanted by the stories of knights and prefers to read -- rather than eat -- books. But it is also about grief, anger, revenge, and their effects on the characters. Most importantly, however, The Tale of Despereaux is a powerful story of the transformative power of forgiveness. The depth of emotion transforms this seemingly ordinary story into something quite extraordinary and beautfiul. ( )

Considering that Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Desperaux was released in 2003 to great acclaim and won the Newbery Medal the following year, I cannot believe that it took a viewing of last year’s movie adaptation to prompt me to read the book. Maybe it is because it sounded too childish to the adolescent me. Or maybe it is because it was so well-received, and I automatically thought it would be a disappointment. Or maybe it is because my favorite librarian (who is no longer at her post, I am sad to say) said when I checked out Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl, “I wish this had won instead of The Tale of Desperaux.” But when I saw the film, I recognized in it the seeds of a great story, and expected the book to deliver it in full form. I can’t say that I’m fully convinced, and certainly not smitten. There aren’t any veggie genies as in the film, but I was also disappointed to find that my favorite line from the movie—“Well, it was a very good book … and she was a very beautiful princess”—was an invention of the screenwriter, although I realize I cannot blame the author for leaving out a line from the adaptation!

I do love DiCamillo’s names. “Desperaux Tilling” represents the perfect juxtaposition of romantic and everyday elements, “Miggery Sow” is delightfully Dickensian, and “Botticelli Remorso” and “Roscuro,” well, don’t they just sound rat-like? The general storyline is great too, and much of it is laid out with structure and pacing that is far superior to the film’s. Some of the characters are developed better than others, but for the most part I found them stereotypes up until the ending, despite the author’s constant admonition that we think of them as a mix of light and darkness. The prize for being my favorite character goes to Desperaux’s mother, Antoinette, who I found absolutely hilarious. She’s so French and melodramatic and … well, so very French. I love how she only uses the article “the,” yielding classic lines such as “It is such the disappointment” and “It is a waste of the time.” She also has splendid dramatic timing when it comes to fainting.

What really bugged me about this book, though, was the narrative style, which is the perfect example of a good thing overdone. I can deal with authorial asides, but when I see the word “reader” on every page I know the writer is simply trying too hard. And often it is used to no purpose. At the beginning of Chapter Thirty-five, DiCamillo devotes three paragraphs to Despearux’s tears and the cause of them. It’s a beautiful description, and if she had moved on at that point it would have been perfect. But instead she wrote,

Reader, the mouse wept.

At which point I wanted to take out my pen and write,

Author, I get it. I got it three paragraphs ago. Stop talking to me, and get on with the story.

But desecrating library books is evil, and I would never ascribe to such perfidy. (Oh, and reader, if you do not know this word, look it up in the dictionary. Now. Or else I will have to edit this review, and spend another full paragraph explaining it to you. Right after I’m finished with “nearsighted.”)

Also … who is supposed to read this book? With a preachy, round-the-fireside narrative style such as this, I’m not sure it will appeal to that many teens or young adults, setting aside the fact that it is about a mouse. But I do not think either my mother or I will be reading this to my younger sister, as we had originally planned. Certain elements of it are so dark. The first thing we are even told is that the other babies in Desperaux’s litter all died. Later, his tail is caught off. Also, many characters die, and Miggery Sow’s ears become misshapen and she loses most of her hearing because she lives with abuse.

A great concept and in the end a worthy read, but I think I agree with my former librarian—not quite my choice for a Newbery Medal. ( )

A strange mouse named Despereaux Tilling reads about a fariy tale and is lead to the princess which truns into a wild adventrue.

This book is simply jaw dropping. ( )

Desperaux Tilling is a little mouse who is in love with light, music, and the Princess Pea. Desperaux finds himself intertwining with a rat named Roscuro and a serving girl named Miggery Sow. Desperaux is on a mission to save the Princess Pea. He'll need courage, bravery, and a red thread.

I love this book I thought it was really funny. The movie was not so good though, it was nothing like the book. The makes me mad when that happens.
I would read this to a young class as a story time book. This is a book that has chapters so I would read a few chapters each day and do a memory chart for all the characters out loud.

DiCamillo, Kate. (2003). The Tale of Despereaux. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

Despereaux, a strange mouse with oversized ears falls in desperate love with a human, Princess Pea. This tale tackles dark subject matter in a light fairytale way. With three other books after this, readers won't be able to put all four of this series down!

Grades: 3-6
NewBerry Award 2004

Reviews/Awards Source Date
Publisher's Weekly 4/24/2006
School Library Journal 10/1/2004
Horn Book Guide 4/1/2004
Newbery Medal 1/1/2004
Voice of Youth Advocate 10/1/2003
Horn Book Magazine 9/1/2003
School Library Journal 8/1/2003
Booklist 7/1/2003
Publisher's Weekly 6/16/2003

I would reccomend this book students who love to read graphic novels, this could be the hook into chapter books! It has full illustrations and a fairy tale, quick paced plot. ( )

This children's novel tackles some dark themes (child abandonment, unrequited love, slavery, child abuse, depression, class privilege and desperation) with a light touch. Despereaux is a small mouse addicted to tales of chivalry, who loves a princess, and must set off on a quest to rescue her. The experiences of Despereaux and the other characters show the reader why they act the way they do in the face of tragedy, despair, and vengeance. It sounds like lugubrious negative reading, but it is written with such a light touch that it comes across more like a fairy tale. It is destined to be a classic. Don't miss it! The reading level is probably best for upper elementary middle school readers. My 11-year-old son thoroughly enjoyed it. ( )

Desperaux Tilling is a little mouse who is in love with light, music, and the Princess Pea. Desperaux finds himself intertwining with a rat named Roscuro and a serving girl named Miggery Sow. Desperaux is on a mission to save the Princess Pea. He'll need courage, bravery, and a red thread.

I was really excited to read The Tale of Despereaux. It’s a Newberry Medal book and now a movie, so I thought for sure it would become a new favorite.

I read it in about 2 1/2 days. I liked how the chapters were short. It’s a cute story, but to be honest I felt it was lacking…and a bit boring.

I thought it would be an irresistible tale, but it was sad and depressing. I mean Despereaux is born and his family immediately doesn’t like him and casts him off. His mother more interested in her make-up.

His father condemns him to death in the dungeon as part of the Mouse Council and his own brother leads him to the dungeon where the rats are to kill and eat him. Why the sentence of death? He talked to the princess.

The queen dies after seeing a rat in her soup. The rat, Rscouro, gets a disgusted look from the princess and then sets out a plan for revenge.

Miggery Sow is a little girl whose mother dies and then her father sells her to a man, whom she must call Uncle, for a hen, a red tablecloth, and some cigarettes. Her “uncle” then hits her against her ears after nearly every response, giving the poor girl cauliflower ears and loss of hearing.

It wasn’t just the depressing events that was disappointing, but the build-up for the story didn’t go anywhere. Despereaux saved the day, but then everything kind of just ended. For me it was like, “This is it?”

Needless to say, I was disappointed.

I did like how DiCamillo spoke to the reader regularly and explained certain things. What was interesting was how she referred to the themes of light and dark as part of the characters and themes in this book. To a certain extent I liked that, but at times it seemed empty and other times forced. As if the author was reaching for something and didn’t quite catch it.

I really wanted to love this book. I thought it’d be amazing, but…didn’t happen. Some people say to those who don’t like it “Oh, it’s for children. You should think of it like that,” but remember what C. S. Lewis said, “Any story worth reading at ten should be worth reading at fifty.”

A fairy tale like no other. The underdog becomes the knight in shinning armor; the bad guys repent and find redemption. This book highlights the struggles between fitting in and being an individual. Though the main characters are a mouse and a rat, there is never a moment when the reader cannot relate to the struggle. It is honest and dark but filled with light and ends happily ever after. ( )

At first glance, the story seems short and simple, almost too much so, but as each character represents an archetype of real people in many social structures, it’s easy to see that a beautiful allegory is being painted. Despereaux is the every man of any middle class of a society, and his daring to enter the world of the royalty, the upper-echelon, is most notable when the king says that he ought not play music for a bug because then the world would not be right. Despereaux’s bravery is a challenge to the every man that no matter how big the problems are, it’s important to fight for the things that you love.

Chiaroscuro represents the bottom rung of society, those who live in the filth and darkness, and are scorned for their position. The king, acting again as a catalyst, mentions that rats belong in the dungeon because they are rats. However, Chiaroscuro’s desire to become something more than a rat, or what a rat represents, burns so strongly that he becomes embittered and twisted, stopping at nothing to try to get revenge.

Miggery Sow’s story is that she has risen from the destitute to a position of power, from being a slave to working in the castle, but her laziness won’t take her any further, and her avarice clouds her judgment. It’s her challenge to recognize where she is at fault and to remedy the situation that she has caused, seeking rather to go about fulfilling her dreams by peaceful measures instead of violent ones.

Princess Pea is the upper echelon, those with the power or the money or, as is often the case, both. Along with forgiving the violent reactions of those below her, it is ultimately she that has the ability to change the overall power structure to bring everyone together. Miggery Sow, although she won’t be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a princess, has a friend and has found her place in society; Chiaroscuro can step into the light, can be part of the world that is beyond his caste; and Despereaux is invited to eat soup at the table with the king and the princess, sitting at the place of honor with all of the other mice watching.

Overall, it’s a quick, fun read, and Dicamillo’s tone is inviting and playful. It’s perfect that she addresses the audience throughout the narrative and clearly defines the big words that she uses throughout. It’s a great bedtime story for younger children, but largely the audience will fall into the 7-8 realm.

-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com ( )

The Tale of Depereaux Tilling, a tiny little mouse with huge ears, his love for the princess, The sweet princess, the abused servant girl and a devious rat with their lives intertwining into a sweet story that teaches us that life has consequences, it is ok to be different, wonderful to love, and to reach for your dreams. I loved it and wish that I could have read it to my children when they were little. I would love to hear the audio version.
"I honor you," whispered Despereaux. "I honor you." He put his paw over his heart. He bowed so low that his whiskers touched the floor. He was, alas, a mouse deeply in love. ( )