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Summary: An impossible wish along with a spirited adventure
Review: Kate DiCamillo's Tale Of Despereaux tells of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who loves music and stories. Add a slow serving girl and an impossible wish along with a spirited adventure involving a castle and you have a tale which will prove hard to put down.
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Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!
Review: I am reading this to my two sons ... and the entire family is just enthralled. A wonderful story for young and old!
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Summary: A night of pure delight
Review: I picked this book up while walking through my local bookstore because the book itself caught my eye...I loved the artwork, the binding, the size of the book and the type of paper used in the making of the book. I took it home, sat down, and read it cover to cover...it was THAT good. I found it funny in the right spots as well as quite touching. I even cried at the end because I was disappointed that the book was over. I think adults as well as children would love this story. It is well-paced and highly entertaining. I only wish it was always this easy to find quality childrens fiction.
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Summary: A Magical New Classic
Review: I have read The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, and liked it much better than her Newbery Honor book, Because of Winn-Dixie. This fairy-tale adventure about a mouse, a rat, a princess, and a servant girl is told in a measured, mannered voice that's a departure for DiCamillo's usual casual style. There are frequent appeals to the "dear reader," which work for me as they do in so few other books.Despereaux is the youngest mouse in his family. He is runty, with huge ears, and prefers reading books to eating them. We're given glimpses of his family -- his faithless father, his very proper sister, his loutish brother whose favorite word is "Cripes!," and his French mother, whose English is slightly stiff and very amusing. Before long, Despereaux's non-mousely behavior gets him banished to the dungeon, where the castle rats will presumably eat him. He escapes, of course, only to cross paths with a vengeful rat who has taken a slow-witted palace maid into service, to help him carry out his plan to punish Princess Pea, the object of his hatred and Despereaux's devotion. Forgiveness, second chances, embracing the light, being who you are, the importance of stories, and the restorative properties of a hot bowl of soup all come into play to create a delicate, magical book that I suspect may have more longevity than the celebrated but ultimately somewhat ordinary Because of Winn-Dixie.
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Summary: Despereaux The Mouse
Review: The Tale of Despereaux is a fantastic story to share with children. The authour does a superb job throughout the book, causing the reader to sit back and think about the meaning of life, there are so many wisdoms hidden inside the pages. This little mouse will warm your heart and make the reader believe that any problem in life can be overcome. It is a can't put it down book. As an elementary educator I am so glad I discovered this book which is bound to become a classic, I shall share it with my students every year!
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Summary: A perfectly enchanting, inspirational story
Review: This is a wonderful, moving, perfectly enchanting novel for children of all ages, and it more than lives up to the spirit of the John Newberry Medal it received as the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." I had read a number of good things about The Tale of Despereaux, and the book actually exceeded my high expectations. Not only does Kate DiCamillo give us a moving, gripping story with wonderful characters; she teaches us a number of important lessons about life in the process. A similar set of circumstances leads several individuals down completely different yet converging roads in life, and this serves to illustrate the important fact that all of our actions and decisions have consequences for ourselves as well those around us. At the same time, DiCamillo reinforces the importance of love, forgiveness, imagination, determination, etc., in each of our lives. Despereaux could be called the mouse that lived; the only survivor of his mother's last litter, he was born (in a castle) with large ears and with his eyes open; thus, from the very start, he was made fun of and constantly told there was something wrong with him. Truly, he was no ordinary mouse; light fascinated him, music stirred his soul, and a fairy tale he read (rather than gnaw on the pages) inspired his dreams. Drawn by the sound of music one day, he disregards the established rules of mice by not only approaching the king and his little girl but actually speaking to them. Despereaux falls madly in love with the princess, but his actions lead the mice council to send him to the dungeon - to the rats. These dungeon rats are mean and nasty, and they eat any mouse that is sent down to their domain. One, however, is not content to be a rat; Roscuro yearns to escape the darkness and dwell in the light - ridiculed by his rat buddies for such silly dreams, he nevertheless makes his way up and into the castle. Unfortunately, his appearance sets in motion a tragedy that hangs heavily over the rest of the story - embittered by the experience, Roscuro returns to the dungeon and begins making plans for revenge. Then you have Miggery Sow, the most tragic character of all. At six years old, her mother died, and her father soon sold her for a hen, a red tablecloth, and some cigarettes. Her "uncle" clouts her ears constantly for her mistakes, leaving her with cauliflower ears that she can barely hear out of. No one has ever cared about her or her desires. All three of these fascinating characters are destined to come together in the final section of this remarkable little novel. It's an inspiring story indeed, and Despereaux is a hero in every sense of the word. Not only must he survive his banishment to the rat-infested dungeon, he must -under almost impossible circumstances - try to rescue the princess he loves so dearly. Love, honor, determination, and heroism (and soup) give him strength, but even still he is only a little two-ounce mouse. There are a number of lessons in Despereaux's tale, not the least of which is the idea that even the smallest of individuals can be heroic and change people's lives. Roscuro represents the pain and misery that inevitably comes from reacting to disappointment in a negative fashion, while poor Miggery Sow is a most telling victim of physical and emotional abuse. Yet forgiveness is always possible, and that is a striking element of this plot. The whole book is simply enchanting and inspirational. DiCamillo often steps outside of the narrative to address the reader directly, offering words of encouragement or warning of unpleasant things ahead, and I thought this added a great deal of charm to an already charming book. This is a story you will delight in reading again and again.
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Summary: awful, reader, just plain awful
Review: Please do not read this book, reader!!! Reader, I had just finished reading Because of Winn-Dixie, and I found it to be a wonderful book and story. But, reader, Tale of Despereaux did not come anywhere close to what I expected a good, or worthy of reading children's book, should be. I also, reader, feel that anyone who has to tell a child what is going on without letting them think for themselves or create their own meanings should not bebale to get their books published. I have always felt the point of getting children to read is to, get them to read! Then the stories and meanings can be discussed later. Children always bring something new the table, and this book ruins a childs creative and imaginative mind.
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Summary: Plus another 5 Stars because it brought the family together
Review: Kate DiCamillo does it again with "The Tale of Despereaux." This is a story of a mouse, a dungeon, a king, a princess and love. What more would any kid want or need in a story? DiCamillo has a way of getting inside a child's mind with her writing and does so magically. This was a book I just had to read out loud to my son as it lends itself to many voices and fun expressions. My older daughter came in to see what was going on and returned every night to hear the rest.
A soon to be classic that truly earned the Newberry Medal.
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Summary: Dreamers Meet Their Match
Review: I just finished with this book and am struck by the mature themes it develops. Particularly, it develops the theme of forgiveness at the level a child can understand; Pea's realizaton that she must forgive for her own sake as well as for another's is poignant and a wonderful lesson for children to learn, especially in contrast to Roscuro's heart which healed crookedly because he did not forgive. I also appreciated the clear illustration that one can be dangerously misled by listening to unwise or evil people (rats, in this story). This book could be a real discussion starter on either of these topics. However, I do agree with the reviewer who cautioned that the abuse of Miggery Sow was treated lightly. Since her abuse was so severe, I'm not sure it belonged in a child's book at all. This was more than Cinderella being kept home from the ball sweeping ashes! Because of it's positive points, I recommend this book; however, because of the abuse issue, I do so with reservation.
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Summary: Tale of Desperaux
Review: I can't believe some of the reviews I'm reading here. As an author, when I read this book to my children, it literally depressed me because I wished I had done it. I loved the way she put it all together, the deep characterization and natural longings of those on the outside. It was just beautiful, inspirational, not to mention a great springboard for discussions with your children. My boys are 10, 9, 6 and they were rapt with attention. They don't even care that much about the pictures (which is amazing) because they have created their own in their mind.
I thought this story was an incredible allegory of wanting more and striving for better. Highly recommended! Kristin Billerbeck
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