The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux was written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering in 2003. It is intended for readers aged 7-10. This book follows the story of Despereaux Tilling; a brave little mouse on a quest to save a princess from a rat named Roscuro.

Despereaux is an unusually small mouse with large ears. His family tries to teach him to be afraid like a mouse, but Despereaux is curious, adventurous, and very brave. He meets a beautiful princess named Pea, and is instantly enamored by her. Roscuro the rat falls into the Queen's bowl of soup, which caused her death. Princess Pea was disgusted by Roscuro, and for that he intended to punish her. However, Despereaux does everything he can to stop Roscuro.

DiCamillo uses an interesting style in this book. This fantasy story is divided into four books; three following the story of a different character and the fourth follows all. One major theme of fantasy is a struggle between the forces of good and evil. Despereaux was born upstairs in the light of the castle and Roscuro was born in a dungeon, in the darkness; the protagonist and antagonist are literally light (good) and dark (evil). Throughout the story, DiCamillo refers to the reader, like she is talking to you; it seems like a great attention getter. That's something I don't see often when reading. I enjoy her use of the word reader, because it makes the story seem more personal. The illustrations depict a certain line from the book. They are even captioned with the quote, giving you an idea what the picture is showing. They appear to be black and white sketches of the scene being mentioned.

I love this book. I read this somewhere between third and fifth grade and could not put it down. Kate DiCamillo did an excellent job when writing this book. This was by far one of my favorite childhood books.

Other books by Kate DiCamillo include:

• Because of Winn-Dixie
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
• Flora & Ulysses 
• The Tiger Rising
• The Magician's Elephant

Motivational Activities:

• Write a paragraph about one time that you had to be brave. Explain how you felt in that situation.
• Compare and contrast rats and mice. What makes them so different? Which animal do you like better?

Reader Response Questions:

• How would you react if you saw a rat? A mouse?
• What makes Despereaux unusual for a mouse?
• Why do you think Pea liked a mouse more than a rat?

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. New York, NY: Scholastic.