The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo

Scholastic INC., 2003, 267 pp., $7.99
ISBN 0-439-70166-x

In the book The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo creates three characters: an unusual mouse named Despereaux who loves music, stories, and a very beautiful princess named Pea; there’s rat named Roscuro, that loves light, the only forbidden thing in his world; and there’s a dim witted nearly deaf server girl named Miggery Sow, and all she wants is a “simple, impossible wish.” And other little characters, like the jailer Despereaux meets in the dungeon, Princess Pea, who Despereaux falls in love with, and Despereaux’s family, all wish he were normal.

The story begins with the birth of Despereaux. He is born with his eyes open, his ears very big, and he’s very small.  He doesn’t follow the rules of a mouse. He doesn’t scurry--he walks. He doesn’t eat books--he reads them.  And he‘s not scared of people.  The day he saw Princess Pea, he talked to her. His family finds out and turns him into the mouse council and he is sent to the dungeon.

Kate DiCamillo wants her readers to think of the book as a romance, because Despereaux was sent to the dungeon for talking to his love (Princess Pea), and only came back to see her once again. Another theme is be yourself book because Despereaux didn’t want to be like the other mice and was sent to the dungeon for it. It’s an adventure book because Despereaux found his way through the dungeon to see the light again, fantasy because animals can’t talk to humans.  A moral of the book would be “Go for what you want and forget what other people think” because Despereaux didn’t care about what his family did--he did his own thing.

The way DiCamillo describes the idea and not the boring stuff is so great. It hooks you in from beginning to end.  She takes time to describe all three of the main characters.  And by the end of end the book you will be flabbergasted. 

I would recommend this book to people who like a book about talking animals, adventures, or just like an easy read, because when you read this book you won’t want to put it down.

~ reviewed by Derrick