I’ve been blogging for Families.com for a year now (happy blogoversary to me!) and one of my favorite parts of the job is finding great books and then telling you all about them. “The Tale of Despereaux” is such a book.
Despereaux was the smallest mouse his mother had ever seen. When he was born, his eyes were open – very uncommon for a mouse – and she was sure he wouldn’t live. He did live, however, and found himself able to do things that the other mice couldn’t. He had a wonderful appreciation for music, which smelled like honey to him, and when his sister tried to teach him how to nibble a book, he found that he could read the words on the page.
His love of music got him in trouble with the mouse council. One night, he heard the king playing his guitar to sing Princess Pea to sleep, and Despereaux just had to get closer to listen. Before he knew it, he was right by the princess’s foot, which is completely against the rules of the mice. Then, he allowed her to touch his head – doubly wrong – and then, the worst offense of all. He spoke to her.
The mouse council decides that the death sentence must be passed, and Despereaux is led off to the dungeons, where the mouse-eating rats live. It is expected that he won’t survive the night, but he is befriended by the jailer, who helps him get out of the dungeon in time to hear a plot to harm the princess. Unable to get anyone to listen to him,
Despereaux goes back into the dungeon, armed only with a sewing needle, to save the princess from death.
This story is written very cleverly, with a touch of wry wit. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end, and I can see why it took the Newbury Award. While listed as children’s fiction, I did find some of the themes a bit much for a juvenile audience and would recommend it for ages twelve and up.
(This book was published in 2003 by Candlewick Press.)
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