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| The Tale of Despereaux, Candlewick Press |
Despereaux is a very small mouse with very big ears. He is a
major disappointment to his family, because he doesn’t enjoy the normal mouse
activities of scurrying and scavenging and cowering in fear.
Instead, he thinks that music sounds like honey and that
light coming through stained-glass windows looks like heaven. His sister Merlot
tries to teach him how to eat books — the tasty glue of the binding and the crispy
edges of the pages. But Despereaux is more interested in reading the words on
the pages. A story about a heroic knight. Despereaux wants to be a hero, but
how can a small, sickly mouse aspire to greatness? Ridiculous!
Yet Despereaux aspires to many wonderful, beautiful,
ridiculous things. Like love. And hope. And forgiveness. For even a small
creature may have a great heart.
In this charming book — The
Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo — many stories are intertwined. Despereaux’s
story intersects the story of Gregory, a jailer who is himself imprisoned in
the castle dungeons. And of Miggory Sow, a servant girl traded by her father for
a tablecloth. And of Chiaruscuro, a rat who loves light but has been banished
to the darkness. And of Princess Pea, a girl who is doted on by her father but who grieves for her dead mother. When the Princess is kidnapped, all of these stories converge.
Kate DiCamillo belongs to an exclusive “club” of writers
who have won the Newberry medal twice. Once for Despereaux (2003) and
again for Flora & Ulysses
(2013). Only five other people have won two Newbery's. Kate's book Because
of Winn-Dixie was Newbery Honor Book and also won the Josette Frank
Award. For The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, she won the 2006 Boston
Globe-Horn Book Award for children’s fiction.
And she’s won a host of other awards
which would take too many electrons to list. On her website, Kate says she feels lucky because she gets to tell stories for a living. "Stories are light," says Gregory the jailor to Despereaux. "Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light."
Some books shine with an inner light, because of the beauty of the language or the compelling characters or the carefully-crafted story. The Tale of Despereaux has all three.
Happy birthday to Kate DiCamillo on March 25th. Thanks for bringing so much lovely light into the world. Keep telling your stories. Keep making the light.
Want to learn more about Kate diCamillo and her books? Click here. 
| Image Credits: Mouse - Drawing by Rama Kate diCamillo photo - Candlewick Press Kate diCamillo reading at Kalamazoo Public Library - Public Domain Sun - Public Domain |
I loved Because of Winn Dixie. When my son read it in 4th grade, I read it too.I loved the Littmus Lozenges--what a clever idea. I have never read The Tale of Despereaux, but maybe I will read it this summer and encourage the kids to read it too. Happy Birthday Kate diCamillo.
ReplyDeleteI loved Winn Dixie too. I pretty much love every story Kate writes -- which you can probably tell from my blog. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteWhat a gift books are and what a tremendous blessing writers are...consider yourself called a "tremendous blessing."
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, J. Harris! Writers are a tremendous blessing--and I'm tickled pink that you just called me one! Readers are a blessing too. It's a collaboration.
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