DiCamillo, Kate, and Timothy B. Ering. 2003. The tale of Despereaux: being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0763617229.
Plot Summary:
Despereaux Tilling was a very small mouse with huge ears whose mother was surprised to see him live past birth. His older siblings admonished him for his interest in reading stories and being lured by the sound of music. The entire mouse population in the Kingdom of Dor – including Despereaux’s own parents – decided to banish the undersize Despereaux when they discover that he spoke with the King and Princess Pea. When asked to renounce his actions to the Mouse Council, Despereaux instead admitted his love and devotion to the fair Princess Pea, and was promptly hauled down into the darkest dungeon, which was populated by unscrupulous rats.
And that is just the beginning of the tale that involves several other castle-dwellers; including Roscuro, the young rat who is entranced by light, and Miggery Sow, the pathetic orphan servant. All three lead a powerful ensemble of characters who collaborate to create a magical sequence of emotional discoveries.
Critical Analysis:
This 2003 Newbery Award winning fairy tale was organized by Kate DiCamillo into four parts that unfold gracefully to reveal an exciting, heartwarming story. The narrator consistently addresses the reader throughout, and the messages are endearing, meant to invoke a powerful resonance. There is a wide spectrum of themes sprinkled into the story; specifically love, anger, compassion, regret, and of course, desperation. The book is recommended for children grade 3 and up, but younger audiences may only be able to absorb a fraction of the intended scope of human feelings that are brought forth by the story. Adult readers can enjoy the rich complexities of life’s lessons while still being entertained by the a well-paced adventure story. The narrator also occasionally suggests looking up certain words in the dictionary to fully understand their meaning – which is helpful advice for elementary students – but adults shouldn’t have a hard time understanding the meaning through context.
Timothy Basil Ering added intricately detailed pencil drawings to the embellish the chapters with depictions of major scenes, but the drawings don’t threaten to conflict with the imagery in the reader’s mind. This is the kind of timeless story that doesn’t necessarily need to be fully illustrated or made into a motion picture, but due to anthropomorphism and exaggeration of certain details, the simple drawings help emphasize size and scale.
Review Excerpts:
Booklist (starred review): “Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul stirring as it is delicious.” – Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
School Library Journal: “The unpredictable twists of plot, the fanciful characterizations, and the sweetness of tone are DiCamillo’s own. This expanded fairy tale is entertaining, heartening, and, above all, great fun.” – Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
