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Loading... The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup…by Kate Dicamillo
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. This is a darling book and I found myself thinking about the characters as I went about my day. They are so well-developed and endearing. I look forward to reading it to a child one day to see if they have the same reaction. I found that I was so touch by the characters that I was sad when the story ended because I missed them. I think this would be a great book to read to a classroom over the course of a month or so. And the illustrations are beautiful. (  )1   hnebeker | Dec 16, 2009 |  Have you ever sent yourself on a quest? Or have you escaped from the dungeon just to go back in again? Well, Despereaux has. He was sent to the dungeon for not behaving in ways of a mouse and for falling in love with the princess. Turning the time back, Roscuro the rat accidentally fell into the queen’s soup and killed her and ever since he’s been very angry, wanting revenge. Then this comes together. Roscuro got the princess into the dungeon. This is when Despereaux sent himself on a quest. Can Despereaux make it? Read the book to find out. (  )1 sasgrade4 | Dec 16, 2009 | DiCamillo, K., & Ering, T. B. (2006). The tale of Despereaux: Being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. DiCamillo takes the emotion she masterfully used in Because of Winn-Dixie and Tiger Rising, and transfers it to an adventure for a younger audience. Using a “dear reader” narrative approach, DiCamillo works to connect the reader to the sympathetic characters in her tale. Despereaux, a small mouse with a big heart falls in love with a human princess and must descend into the castle’s dungeons to save her from a misguided servant girl and a devious rat. Although DiCamillo’s narrative is split into separate detailed descriptions of each of the story’s major characters, she communicates a story of interconnectedness, cause-and-effect, and tragic fate. Ering’s illustrations depict well DiCamillo’s rich descriptions, offering readers a visual springboard for their imaginations. 1 Dalmlis1 | Dec 16, 2009 | A slightly entertaining novel about a mouse, named Despereaux, and his unique view of the world from a mouse. By slightly I refer to the parts where the author drifts from the comfortable narration and breaks from the story to address the reader. Where one author might describe a scene vividly in a way that we would hold dear and truly captivate a person, the author decides to deviate from narration and explain to the reader in a simple matter what transpired. Overall the story isn't bad. It's not light and fluffy for every reader as it does have dark moments but that isn't a bad thing. The character development is simple enough for a younger reader to follow but the general writing style is also perhaps too simple for a younger read to bother with. It's something to read if you have nothing better, but if you do by all means read that. (  ) Trenton_F | Dec 7, 2009 | The Tale of Despereaux was a rather dark but sweet tale of three interesting characters, a mouse, a rat, and a lonely girl. Desperaux the mouse lives is not your normal mouse, he doesn't cower in the face of danger and has a hunger for knowlege. Roscuro is also a curious soul who get's himself into a bit of trouble involving some soup. He is banished to the dark world of Ratdome and see's little hope for his future. Miggery Sow also sees her life as nothing more than that of a lowley servant girl but dreams of being a beautiful princess. When all three colide they change eachother's lives for good. Great book for an older classroom as it is a bit dark. mrichter | Dec 6, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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The first book of four tells Despereaux's sad story, where he falls deeply in love with Princess Pea and meets his cruel fate. The second book introduces another creature who differs from his peers--Chiaroscuro, a rat who instead of loving the darkness of his home in the dungeon, loves the light so much he ends up in the castle& in the queen's soup. The third book describes young Miggery Sow, a girl who has been "clouted" so many times that she has cauliflower ears. Still, all the slow-witted, hard-of-hearing Mig dreams of is wearing the crown of Princess Pea. The fourth book returns to the dungeon-bound Despereaux and connects the lives of mouse, rat, girl, and princess in a dramatic denouement.
Children whose hopes and dreams burn secretly within their hearts will relate to this cast of outsiders who desire what is said to be out of their reach and dare to break "never-to-be-broken rules of conduct." Timothy Basil Ering's pencil illustrations are stunning, reflecting DiCamillo's extensive light and darkness imagery as well as the sweet, fragile nature of the tiny mouse hero who lives happily ever after. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:18 -0400)
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