Book Review: The Tale of Despereaux

Aug 1, 2025 | Book Reviews

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The Tale of Despereaux

Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Timothy Basil Ering
Pages: 272
Buy on Bookshop.org

Book Description:

A brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Medal–winning tale.

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.

Review:

An adventurous, sophisticated, and touching story about a brave little mouse who faces his biggest fears in order to save a princess. This was our family’s read-aloud this past month, and we found it very engaging.

While I found some parts were darker than most books we read as a family (a child being sold, verbal abuse, and being sentenced to death by a parent), rest assured that it will all turn out well in the end, as you always hope for in a children’s book. This book encourages the values of bravery, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, and light triumphing over darkness.

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