The Tale of Despereaux

I am retired, after 60+ years in service to our Country. I purchased this book for reading enjoyment, and I was not disappointed at all. A book about truth, sacrifice, being a hero, and commitment. Everyone under 18, and older that 10-12 years, should read for an education into the 'REAL' facts of life. My grandchildren are still quite young now, but I will make sure they receive this book for their Kindle as a gift.

This book is unlike anything I’ve read in a long time. Hauntingly beautiful, profound themes… interweaves philosophy, psychology, and medical in a smart main character against heavy odds. A slow burn first half unravels in the second half in a way you’ll be questioning what’s real and what’s not. Still thinking about the ending. Looking forward to more by this author!

I can't manage to wipe off the smile that this sweet book brought to my face. I love good children's lit, especially when it involves mice. When I was a ittle-bitty one, my dad would read to me in bed every night before going to sleep (Note to parents: want your kids to be reading when they start kindergarten, get a perfect score on their SAT's, and get a free ride to college? Read to them!); my absolute favorite book ever was Beverly Cleary's _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_, with _Stuart Little_ coming in a close second. What can I say... I love mice. So I was extremely excited when I learned that the title character of Kate Dicamillo's newest book (which won the 2004 Newbery Medal) is - you guessed it! - a mouse. A very sweet, kind, gentle mouse, and a mouse that honestly is not very good at doing mouse-like things; instead of nibbling at books, he reads them, and instead of scurrying to avoid humans, he falls in love with one.This book is simply beautiful. Its themes will resonate deeply with adults but still make sense to children. The Victorian "Dear Reader" style of writing is sweet and funny, and draws you deeper into the story. And the illustrations are breathtaking: classic pencil drawings that evoke the characters' personalities perfectly. I really can't say enough good things about this book. If you enjoy children's lit, you should definitely check it out; if you have a child to read it with, all the better! (This is a book that begs to be read out loud - I even found myself reading it to my dog a few times!) There are some dark and possibly scary sections that might frighten very young children. But the major theme of the book is dark vs. light, and of course light wins in the end, as it always should.If you enjoy this book, check out Because of Winn-Dixie, another wonderful - although vastly different in style - book by Dicamillo.

We read this book during summer break and at the time my son was only four but he loved it! My daughter was 6 and loved this book as well. It's a wonderful story to read with the whole family. I love the vocabulary questions for the reader. I would recommend this to all families as summer reading to keep up with school skills.

Kate DiCamillo's- The Tale of Despereaux : Book ReviewMark Culbertson, Gini Taylor, Janie Wells & Ashley Wood"Reader you must know that an interesting fate awaits everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform."-Stated by the "Narrator from The Tale of Despereaux[...]( here is a cute pic, but I couldn't get it to copy and paste)Magical lands where mice are able to talk and become friends with a princess, that's the world that Kate DiCamillo offers in The Tale of Despereaux. According to Wikipedia.com, Kate wrote this story for a friend's son, who asked her to write a story about a hero with big ears. Despereaux is a mouse with big ears and a big imagination to match, as the reader will soon find. As in most of her books Kate takes the reader on a journey of awe and mystery.The Tale of Despereaux is an inspiring story of trial, triumph, and overall a transformation of character. "The story of a mouse, a princess, some soup and a spool of thread" is very inspirational, imaginative, intriguing and innovative. Although Despereaux, the main character, was different from the other mice that surrounded him, he used his uniqueness to overcome obstacles and change the lives of others, and ultimately had a big influence on his own self esteem. His daring feats throughout the story shows an underlying message of courage and ultimately proved that being who you want to be, and proceeding with your dreams will in the end be useful, not only to the primary person, but also to those surrounding them. It is a great story for children to read when trying to understand personal differences and uniqueness. Although the book is a fantasy, children can relate Despereaux's story to their lives easily.The book was well written it was easy to stay focused and caught up in what was happening in the book. When explaining what things looked like, she was very descriptive, for example describing the way the king slept," The king slept in his giant bed with his crown on his head and his hands on his chest, dreaming that his wife, the queen, was a bird with green and gold feathers who called his name, Phillip, Phillip, Phillip, without ceasing."This is a great book and everyone should read it. It brings you out of this world and takes you into a fantasy world with castles, kings, talking mice and rats, as well as a princess. You get caught up in this book and then you find that you can't put it down. The adventures of Despereaux will keep you reading because you will want to see if he succeeds in accomplishing what he had set out to do. You will be rooting for him to overcome the many obstacles that seem to always find their way to him.There is an interesting story of how Kate DiCamillo became the author of this exciting tale. She was asked by her son's best friend to write a story for him. He wanted the story to be about "an unlikely hero, with exceptionally large ears." When she asked him what happens to this character, he replied "That's why I want you to write the story, so we can find out."Works cited:DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux. April, 2006. Candle Press.Kate DiCamillo. Retrieved September 16, 2009. Last updated September 12, 2009, from Wikipedia: [...]