Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread
Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread | Kate DiCamillo
151 posts | 282 read | 2 reading | 64 to read
"Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul-stirring as it is delicious." BOOKLIST (starred review) Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out. From the master storyteller who brought us BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE comes another classic, a fairy tale full of quirky, unforgettable characters, with twenty-four stunning black-and-white illustrations by Timothy Basil Ering. This paperback edition pays tribute to the book's classicdesign, featuring a rough front and elegant gold stamping."
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
quote
katemccord

“Might just as well be happy, seeing as it doesn‘t make a difference to anyone but you if you are or not“

blurb
katemccord

As an educatore, this would be a great book to read in any grade level. Read to young children and have them follow along to build comprehension or have older children read to build their fluency skills.

review
katemccord
Pickpick

This is a charming story of a brave mouse and a princess. This book has themes of love, trials, and build self-esteem. The adventures Despereaux goes on will keep you reading to see if he succeeds in accomplishing what he had set out to do.

review
AvidReader25
post image
Pickpick

This sweet read with my daughter was a bit darker than I was expecting, but I loved the message in the end. DiCamillo has such a gift for bringing a scene to life, and I won‘t soon forget the treks into the dungeon.

review
mariaku21
post image
Pickpick

I am so delighted to have read this and yet mad that I just read it for the first time, now, at my age, because this book was absolutely magical and delightful.

This book is just such a sweet, simple read and yet full of layers in an easy enough language for the age group that it's written for. I love that the author breaks the 4th wall throughout the book to connect with the reader.

Absolutely loved this!

Librarybelle I loved this book so much! 8mo
Jas16 Sounds wonderful 8mo
13 likes2 comments
quote
mcappel

“Despereaux Tillings lived.“

blurb
mcappel

This book would be great as a read-aloud. You could read a chapter a day for grades 2 or 3 and have a lit circle with the book in grades 4-5. Children could try to make predictions as to what they think will happen next.

review
mcappel
Pickpick

Tale of Despereaux follows the adventure of a little mouse named Despereaux, he is determined to rescue the Princess Pea from the rats. Along the way, he faces Roscuro as they travel through the dark eerie dungeons and into the sparkling palace. The book is a fairy tale, and fantasy fiction and won a Newbery Medal. This book has a n interesting point of view, as it refers to the reader throughout the book like it is being narrated.

quote
liz.eng

“If I were standing in the dungeon, I would hear these sounds. If we were standing together in the dungeon, we would hear these sounds and we would be very frightened; we would cling to each other in our fear.“

blurb
liz.eng

This story would be good for older elementary students probably more middle school aged. There aren't too overly violent parts in this book. This story allows for children to open their imaginations and pretend that mice and people talk to each other and get along. The overall message is good for students to see that you can rely on others who may not be exactly like you but are going through something similar.

review
liz.eng
Pickpick

This story is speculative fiction. In this story there are other stories being told within. In the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who loves music and stories, and a princess named Pea. There is a story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in a world of darkness. Then finally there is a story of Miggery Sow, who is a server girl and just wants one wish. All these characters are on a journey of their own but come together to help each other out.

review
Robotswithpersonality
post image
Mehso-so

Well, they were right about the Newbery Medal winners: you're gonna cry! 😭 This story had an emotional depth I was not expecting, but it is not without flaws. Much of my issue with the way Mig was described would no doubt be different if it wasn't published 20 years ago. But I'm still angry on Mig's behalf for her ' yes and no' happily ever after, (spoilers below), I'm still heartbroken for Chiaroscuro, and then there's the pacing. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Among the things that make this book WAY darker than I thought it was going to be, is introducing a child that will be sold to another man to be physically and verbally abused for years, only to then be barely tolerated by her employers because her abuse has lead her to be hard of hearing, and because she is understood to be 'slow', and having finally gotten enough nutrition, it would appear far is also being used as part of the description that makes her pitiable. Not a good look! 14mo
Robotswithpersonality 3/? And then the author decides her fate should be not to assume the title of royalty (because of course there are pretty little girls that are rightfully princesses, because that makes as much sense as anything does about monarchy 😑) but she will go back to her now remorseful father who will 'treat her like a princess', as if she could ever trust it, as if it would reverse all that harm done by and as a result of his earlier actions. It could be argued, as with Despereaux, she might feel better if she forgives him, but I don't think she should have to live with him. 14mo
Robotswithpersonality 4/? And then there's Chiaroscuro, who suffered a traumatic experience, gained what to me seems undeserved hate for an accident and inadvertent consequence, on top of speciest prejudice, and as a result is understood to be broken, easily twisted, barely brought back to the light, and not really belonging in normal society again. Kind of a wretched message from a modern mental health view. 14mo
Robotswithpersonality 5/5 And I think all those people I see with sweet pet rats on the internet would have something to say about the general characterizations going on in this book. So yeah, I can see it having a moment in its day, but I don't think I'd recommend this book for today's children, unless the parents are prepared to have a much longer conversation than the book originally might have fostered. ⚠️ child abuse, ableism, fatphobia 14mo
9 likes4 comments
quote
Robotswithpersonality
This post contains spoilers
show me
post image

"...to save his own heart...to save himself."
Well that got me harder than I thought that it would. ?
You're not obligated to forgive, you don't owe it to another who wronged you, but it may be the best way of letting the past go, moving forward, for your OWN mental health.

quote
Robotswithpersonality
post image

Chiaroscuro, honey, it's hard to take you seriously with the spoon on your head. 🤦🏼‍♂️

quote
Robotswithpersonality
post image

Understandable. 😟

quote
Robotswithpersonality
post image

Perfidy: deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery

That about covers it. 🙎🏼‍♂️🐀

4 likes1 stack add
blurb
Nelnjali
post image

In honor of National Communicate with Your Children Day, I'm posting one of my favorite children's books, The Tale of Despereaux. I was an adult when I first read, but it is a favorite because I love the way it speaks to young readers and treats them like they are intelligent and capable of big thoughts and feelings. Kate DiCamillo is a treasure.🐁🪡

#WinterReadathonDailyChallenge
@Andrew65

Andrew65 Another great book! 2y
TEArificbooks We love this author! 2y
TheBookHippie I read this with students every year!! 2y
22 likes3 comments
review
ravenlee
post image
Pickpick

A delightful story about a mouse with big ideas, a rat with disturbing plans, and a girl with dreams but no sense. It had some scary bits and sad moments, and some laughs. I read it in a day and can‘t wait for kiddo to read it, too. #DannyBoy said I shouldn‘t waste time on a mouse book when there‘s a perfectly good cat to be petted. #catsofLitsy

review
Ellen_C
post image
Pickpick

Charming story about a little mouse with a big heart. Children‘s lit, themes related to being an outsider, grief and forgiveness. https://cannonballread.com/2022/09/the-tale-of-despereaux-elcicco/

review
ehrmans
Pickpick

This book follows the adventures of a mouse named Desperaux Tilling as he sets out to rescue a human princess from the rats. Throughout the book, the setting jumps back in time to introduce us to a new rat named Roscuro. This rat grew up in the dungeons and is supposed to enjoy torturing prisoners. Both rats eventually meet and are opposing characters.

ehrmans Author: Kate DiCamillo. Illustrator: Timothy B. Ering. Genre: fairy tale, fantasy fiction. Publication date: 2003. Awards: Jon Newbery Medal and Dorthy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award.
2y
1 comment
blurb
vonnie862
post image

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo

This is an adorable book! I love reading this with my students.

#AlphabetGame
#LetterT
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing 📚 2y
35 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
TLC49steps
post image

Every thought we think and deed we place, upon ourselves and others! Results in a consequence. Therefore, let us take heed from Roscuro‘s unfortunate experience. Not only is Kate a master at her literary craft - she is also a great teacher of life‘s little awareness‘s…
I get giddy when I skim through the imperfect pages with purposeful worn out edges. The sort of book you would find in Princess Pea‘s castle 📚✨

blurb
KateReadsYA
post image

Mini Book Haul!!!!
Milo asked for some animal books and he was very excited with what I picked out. For Jay I got The Tale of Desperaux, gonna read it with him each night for a great bedtime story. And for myself I found some great picks!!! Caraval and the Tigers curse which have been on my TBR list for quite some time.

Victoriahoperose I just read Caraval this last week and I loved it so much. Way more than I expected. And The Tale of Desperaux is such a cute book ❤️ 3y
KateReadsYA @Victoriahoperose I'm so glad. I've been seeing great things about Caraval so I'm happy it's on my shelf now :) 3y
RedxoHearts Aw the dinosaur slippers match the book 3y
37 likes3 comments
review
marleed
post image
Pickpick

Well, this was adorable. Mighty heroes can come in small sizes. This sat unread on my shelves and I finally prioritized it thinking MiddleGradeMarch and the positive mention by Ann Patchett in These Precious Days.

review
BookishTrish
post image
Pickpick

I reread this old favourite and now I want soup.

review
zurazureen
Pickpick

Big adventure with small package

review
Adil_khan
Pickpick

A mouse is telling you a story to save himself from darkness. It's a story of a mouse, a rat and a poor girl . The mouse falls in love with a princess and wants to be become a knight of her. A rat living deep down in a dungeon in darkness falls in love of light. And a poor orphan girl wants to become a princess. Would they get what they want?the story would unravel it all.

4 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
CollapsingLibrary
post image
Pickpick

Book 31 | ⭐️5/5
Adorable, engaging, with a Lemony Snicket vibe, THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX is an amazing children‘s book about light, love, forgiveness and soup. I will admit the illustrations sometimes put me off, but on a whole the book deserves all the praise it receives!

DivineDiana There‘s a mouse in our house, and I think this would give me a new perspective. Stacked! 😀 3y
46 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
CollapsingLibrary
post image

Starting this cute story at work today. I can‘t remember if I‘ve ever read this one before or not, but I‘m excited!

LeslieO I used to read this aloud to my third graders every year for probably 10 years and I never got tired of it. 3y
CollapsingLibrary @LeslieO I can see why! That book was adorable and engaging! 3y
49 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
LoverOfLearning
post image

"Do you think that rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart. And the heart of any living thing can be broken."

Hooked_on_books This is a wonderful drawing 🖤 3y
LoverOfLearning @Hooked_on_books Awe it is isn't it! 3y
44 likes2 comments
blurb
LoverOfLearning
post image

This cute little book should be delivered to my apartment today!!! One of my childhood favorites.

I'm excited to own a copy

37 likes2 stack adds
review
LaurenMags
post image
Mehso-so

Cute adventure story for middle grade children.

Blueberry I loved this story 😀 4y
16 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
melodyp
post image
Pickpick

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo is a F-LC Newberry Medal award winning book that follows a mouse on his adventures to save a princess from the rats. UDL 8.2 (vary demands and resources to optimize challenge) and EL 30 (encourage the use of diagrams and drawings as aids to identify concepts and seeing relationships) are good strategies to use. #UCFLAE3414SP21

PatriciaS I love 💕 children's adventure 📚 books they are great for read aloud lessons and activities, and for opening up children to imagination and critical thinking 🤔 through discussion sessions questions and answers small groupings and independent reading assignments. 4y
DrSpalding Late 4y
DrSpalding Excellent book choice and excellent resource. This book certainly requires the assistance of a teacher to aid comprehension. The discussion sessions with questions and answers in small groups is a wise idea while the students progress through each of the four books within the one book. 4y
7 likes4 comments
quote
TheSpineView
post image
blurb
BeckyandBooks
post image

I‘m so excited! This is my 9 year olds first chapter book for school!! I‘ve been waiting all school year for this, so we can sit and read it together.

Tattooedteacher I. Love. This. Book. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did. 4y
45 likes2 stack adds1 comment
review
KarenUK
post image
Pickpick

#readwithmrbook @MrBook done!
And what a delightful way to finish! I‘ve never read Kate DiCamillo before 🤦‍♀️ but decided to try one for the Newbery winner challenge.
I loved this adorable story, the humor, the way the narrator addresses the reader, particularly when encouraging us to look up words in the dictionary!
A lovely experience on audio.... when my retail life is exhausting right now, this made for a great commute! 💕🎧

mom2bugnbee Kate DiCamillo is wonderful for all ages! She was a favorite of my daughters when they were younger, but they still pick her up from time to time, at, ages 18 & 15! 4y
Crazeedi Congrats!!!! 4y
MrBook WOOHOOOO!!! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤗🤗🤗 You are awesome! 4y
47 likes3 comments
review
berko
post image
Pickpick

Great! Quirky story about funny characters in a castle. A bit dark. Kids liked it (age 5 and 7)

blurb
amber_ldsmom
post image

#NewberyEpicChallenge books for #September!

📚The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
📚Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Please join us for some fun, easy reads during the always-tumultuous back-to-school month! Hope to see some great reviews!

15 likes3 stack adds
review
InnerSavvy
post image
Pickpick

A cute story but not my favorite by this author even though it won the newberry award

review
RaivionneC
post image
Pickpick

This Fantasy and Newberry Award Winning book is one of my childhood favorites💕 I loved it as an IR but it could be just as great read aloud to students. Despereaux is an adventurous little mouse set out to rescue a princess from Rats in a kingdom where rodents are forbidden from even mentioning. #ucflae3414sp20

RaivionneC This book aligns could with UDL guidelines of guiding information processing and visualization.(3.4) and as an ESOL strategy could be used for guided reading and a translated text. Check out this link to look at the various cool extension activities https://www.aswewalkalongtheroad.com/2017/01/literature- (edited) 5y
Keishla.O OMG, what a throwback!!! I read this book in school and totally forgot it existed! Wow, thank you for the reminder. I loved reading this book and will definitely have to buy it for my personal library. 5y
MaddyJ Kate DiCamillo strikes again!! I love all of her books. This is one I haven‘t read in a long time but it‘s going on my list to read now! 5y
DrSpalding What, of the very cool extension activities, would you use in your future classroom? This book is a challenging one! It is written in for parts as you know and requires the educator to assist students in comprehension strategies. 5y
4 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
Zmohammad
post image
Pickpick

I am really loving how Despereaux is interacting/exploring his environment and the connection he has made with Princess Pea! So far I am really connecting with Despereaux, is there a character or part that you can connect with so far? #NCHPedsReads #MarPedsAcademy

quote
delaney_cg
post image

"'Oh,' he said, 'it sounds like heaven. It smells like honey.'" I love the imagery in this book! I look forward to reading the rest of the book! #NCHPedsReads #MarPedsReads

MeganKlein This book has a great use of imagery and I‘m glad you pointed it out! It really makes you visualize what‘s going on in the story 😊 5y
Daniellepeds Wow I totally agree!! You can really visualize the setting 5y
6 likes2 comments
blurb
KristenD
post image

This book was hard to put down the first time I read it, and still is this second time through! I love how brave Despereaux is. He is willing to stand up for right is right even when others don‘t agree. That is very admirable. For now I have to put the book down, but I cannot wait to pick it up again. #NCHPedsReads #MarPedsReads

delaney_cg Isn't it amazing how brave he is for such a small mouse? I'm even more amazed at his bravery since his family is always calling him a disappointment! He truly isn't bound by the thoughts of others. We could learn something from him. I can't wait to keep reading too! 5y
Zmohammad I think this book has an awesome overall message for individualism! I like that it sends the message that we all can be different, but we must not belittle anyone for it. 5y
DrSpalding I love this picture!❤️📚 4y
9 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
MeganKlein
post image

Finished reading the First Book in The Tale of Despereaux! I have so many questions...My first question is: How will Gregory the Jailor help Despereaux escape the dungeon? I wonder if by telling Gregory stories then Despereaux will be freed. I also wonder why Gregory even wants this little mouse to tell him stories. Maybe Gregory is lonely and wants a friend? #NCHPedsReads #MarPedsReads 📚

KristenD Isn‘t it so hard to put this book down? I am glad you are enjoying it!! I cannot wait for you to get your questions answered! 💕 5y
8 likes1 comment
review
Daniellepeds
post image
Pickpick

Oh no! Despereaux got caught hanging out with the kind and his daughter!! I hope nothing bad happens to him when he has to go in front of the council. I wish his family was more kind and supportive towards him. #nchpedsreads

MeganKlein Danielle, I hope nothing bad happens to Despereaux also! I wonder how much longer he will be able to see Princess Pea. 5y
KristenD The mice think the humans are bad, but I think Despereaux is discovering it may not be the humans that are the problem for him. Especially with how nice princess pea is to him! 5y
delaney_cg I have no doubt that Despereaux will handle the council's decision with no fear. I love how he doesn't let the unkind words of others bound him. He just keeps being who he was made to be! I'm interested to see what the council decides! 5y
7 likes3 comments
review
MaggieMae20
post image
Pickpick

Read three chapters while enjoying a cup of coffee ☕️ in my spring time mug 💐 I think the book starts out sad - no one seems to love Despereaux. Even his name means despair 💔 But could this little mouse have a special gift for reading? 📚 #NCHPedsReads #MarPedsReads

Daniellepeds That would be so cool if he could read! Maybe his family would start being nice to him? 5y
MeganKlein Hey Maggie! I agree that the story starts out really sad. I‘m hoping as the story goes on that Despereaux‘s family will become kinder towards him. 5y
Zmohammad I am wondering if his family will stand up for his uniqueness in the end 🤔 5y
8 likes3 comments