Review of “The Tale of Despereaux,” by Kate DiCamillo
“The Tale of Despereaux,” by Kate DiCamillo is a Newbery Award Medal winning tale about a young mouse who is in love with a human princess. From the day he was born his parents knew that something was wrong with Despereaux. Most mouse babies are born with their eyes closed, but Despereaux was born with his eyes wide open. He was also the runt of the litter, much smaller than all the other mice. And his ears were ridiculously large! Despereaux’s parent were sure that he would die soon after birth. But to their surprise Despereaux does survive, though he grows up to be very different from other mice. For one thing he shows very little interest in the other things that a young mouse should be interested in. When his older brother takes Despereaux to the castle library to chew on the books Despereaux starts reading. Rather than listening for the sound of a cat or for the sound of tasty crumbs hitting the floor Despereaux listens to the music played by the humans who live in the castle. But Despereaux finally goes too far when he falls in love with the human Princess Pea, the beautiful young daughter of King Phillip, owner of the castle. Then in a romantic stupor Despereaux breaks all the rules by speaking to her! The king himself overhears and is outraged: “Do not speak to her! Rodents do not speak to princesses. We will not have this becoming a topsy-turvy, wrong-headed world. There are rules. Scat. Get lost, before my common sense returns and I have you killed.” But alas, Despereaux is a mouse deeply in love, and nothing can stop him from trying to speak to the princess. The Mouse Council decides that something must be done about Despereaux. Before Despereaux knows what is happening he has been banished to the dark dungeon of the castle, a place where the light never shines and fearsome rats await. To them Despereaux will be nothing but a tasty morsel. But perhaps Despereaux will not die, for there are other characters in this ever changing fairy tale world: Roscuro, a dungeon rat who longs to leave his dark world to enjoy the light above, and Miggery Sow, a young serving girl who is slow of wits but quick to envy Princess Pea for her rich life. In the end each of these characters will discover the true meaning of love, light, and darkness. “The Tale of Despereaux” is a thrilling tale that moves at just the right pace. Author Kate DiCamillo develops the plot in a timeless fairy tale tone that I found to be quite enjoyable. The plot itself is complex, with multiple characters who interact and have their own histories. However, Kate DiCamilly manages to pull it off in an easy to understand manner that I found quite adroit. “The Tale of Desperaux” is certainly worthy of its Newbery Award medal. I recommend this enjoyable fantasy tale to all young readers.
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I always wondered if this book was any good because I sort of thought the cartoon movie they made was boring. Please feel free to visit my sight.
I haven’t seen the cartoon movie, but I can understand why it might not be as good as the book. Part of the allure of “The Tale of Despereaux” is Kate DiCamillo’s great writing voice. You just can’t capture that in a movie.
I agree that a large part of the charm of this book is the voice. My children read it when they were 10 and 7, and we all loved it.
Right! Kate DiCamillo has a great way with words and it lends the story a very pleasant tone.