The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup,… (original 2003; edition 2015)

Love Desperaux! ( )

NA

I thought this was absolutely adorable and just a joy to read. I thought it would be geared to a younger age group but is actually appropriate for middle school kids. The themes in it are pretty complex - not fitting in, finding your path in life, death, grief, forgiveness, courage, appreciation of beauty. Just wonderful.

Course evaluation:

Personal Response: This modern fairy tale is just delightful. Despereaux is a relatable hero, struggling with his ideals and limitations, while the other characters are similarly complex and interesting.

Evaluation: DiCamillo’s style is suited well to the fairy tale-like quality of the story; she addresses the reader directly (mimicking the oral tradition), uses many motifs (the princess, talking animals, the phrase “happily ever after”), and creates dark moods with plenty of foreshadowing. However, her characterization veers from traditional literature, as characters are not reduced to stereotypes or simple traits; villains are not solely evil while heroes have dark thoughts or show weakness. She reveals her characters slowly, through natural dialogue and flashback. The perspective switches between characters so we see the full story and understand how different factors account for the events. ( )

Stories are life and love and everything in between. Tears filled my eyes several times. ( )

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo is about a mouse, different in features and hobbies from the other mice, who sets out to save a princess named Pea from the rats. This novel is divided up into four parts in which each part is from the perspective of a different character, to all finally merge stories with each other in the final part. I never liked to read until I read this book. It was somewhat different from everything I had read in the past, which really opened my eyes to the interesting and original ideas that books can offer. There is an underlying idea of betrayal throughout this story, which I had never seen before I read the Tale of Despereaux. This book is intended to be read by young preteens, which I agree with as I had also read this book at that age. I would 100% recommend this book to people, especially those who love fantasy. ( )