The Tale of Desperaux (Fiction)

Dicamillo, Kate. (2006) The Tale of Desperaux. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

The Tale of Despereaux is the fantastic tale of a young mouse with giant ears that wants to go into the world, be a knight and find his princess to protect.  He lives in the castle of the kingdom and once his family hears that he talks to humans, makes him leave the only home he knows and outside that home he learns to defend him self and fight for what he truly wants.

Kate DiCamillo writes a wonderful tale of this young mouse and his quest and it has the honor of not only becoming a major motion picture, but also is the winner of the Newberry Medal of Honor.  This book captures the essence of every great fairy tale and puts it into a whole new perspective.

The fantastic elements of this tale including the abilities of a talking mouse, and his quest for knighthood make this story very unique.  DiCamillo uses the classic fairytale of a princess and kingdom yet redesigns the classic hero into a young mouse that does his best to make his own destiny.  The personification of Despereaux as well as the rats make this tale different from others.

The story is also interspersed with different drawings that enhance the text and give the reader an image about what they are reading which helps the story along.  It keeps the flow and allows the reader a way to see what is happening and then as the tale continues, add their own imagination and see the full scope of the story.

While the book ties together in a whole, DiCamillo employs an episodic style of writing to inform the reader of events before Desperaux's tale as well as events happening alongside Despereaux's own adventure.  Each episode is broken into different parts and then into chapters and at the end of the tale, DiCamillo ties them all together to complete The Tale of Despereaux.

For educators, this book is a great example of a fractured fairy tale.  It can be used for students tired of the same old happily ever after stories and let them explore the new ideas of what a fairy tale can be.  It also explores the ideas of personification and literary elements such as the importance of setting and how character's story lines tie together. 

For readers from 7-12, The Tale of Despereaux is an entertaining look into what a small mouse can do.  I believe readers will enjoy the fantastic elements as well as the basic qualities of  a well written story that DiCamillo put together.  The pieces make up a strong whole that many readers will enjoy.

Read alikes for The Tale of Despereaux: