The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux)

Author - Kate Dicamillo ... [Goo?] [Posters]
Timothy Basil Ering ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Candlewick was reviewed on 16-Oct-2008.

Search ISBN:0763629286 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) Reference Book. Classifications : General Ages 4-8 Children's Books Subjects Books DiCamillo, Kate ( D ) Authors & Illustrators, A-Z Children's Books Subjects Books Stories Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths Literature Children's Books S . Click the following link to view the cover of The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux).

Related topics: General. Ages 4-8. Children´s Books. Subjects. Books. DiCamillo, Kate. ( D ). Children´s Books. Subjects. Books.

1) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. I think that the movie is going to murder the book! Go to the preview at Netflix.com and see it for yourself! The book is great--so great I can read it a million times like how Mig is good then turns bad because of Rescauro.¤

2) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. A few weeks ago I saw a preview for the movie version of DiCamillo´s The Tale of Despereaux, and not knowing a bit about the storyline, thought the movie looked kinda cute. Beautiful colors and wonderful lines in the animation, a cute little mouse of a hero, and I do love Matthew Broderick (the voice of Despereaux). Even if it did look faintly like "Ratatouille," I felt excited about the movie and thought I´d finally read the book.

The immediate problem: I am not sure a filmmaker on earth could have captured the magic of this book. It is almost indescribable to me, the way this book made me feel. Then again, I felt the same way about reading Charlotte´s Web, and I do think the 2006 film version did it a lovely bit of justice. So maybe there´s no excuse for why filmmakers for Despereaux felt they needed to throw in a big mean cat (not in the book), mouse school (not there either), and a field of vicious mousetraps (nope, nope, nope). The book is about being brave, yes, but not being brave because of danger. It´s about being brave enough to be who you were born to be.

Despereaux is born different from all the other mice - bigger ears, smaller body. And born with his EYES OPEN (which no mouse, apparently, ever is). He is drawn to light, he feels music in his body like the sound of honey ("sound," he says, not "smell"). He loves books not for the glue or paper to chew on, but for the tales they weave and truths they create. And he doesn´t fear humans, but falls in love with them, well - with one in particular. He is brave not because he is being pursued by the castle cat, but because he himself pursues something transcendent in his life - light and love. Not what anyone expects of a mouse!

This is such a gorgeous, lush, lovely book. It made me chuckle, frown, and cry just a little. DiCamillo´s storytelling is like silk - luxurious and soft, and sturdy and sure. I love the narrator, how he/she directly addresses the "reader." I love how in such a short span of time and space, these characters are made complicated and complex. Everything is not perfect, noone is without their faults. How did DiCamillo create a world so divine and still so infinitely human? She´s amazing.

My throat tightened (as it does now) upon reading the "Coda" to Despereaux´s tale:

Do you remember when Despereaux was in the dungeon, cupped in Gregory the jailer´s hand, whispering a story in the old man´s ear?

I would like it very much if you thought of me as a mouse telling you a story, this story, with the whole of my heart, whispering it in your ear in order to save myself from the darkness, and to save you from the darkness, too.

"Stories are light," Gregory the jailer told Despereaux.

Reader, I hope you have found some light here.

Oh, yes, I found light. For me, it was as bright as the sun.¤

3) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. The Tale of Despereaux
This is a tale of forgiveness, when forgiveness is hard; love, through all the storms in life, and light through all the darkness.

Despereaux, a small mouse with large ears, wasn´t interested in nibbling on the large books in the castle, along with his sister. Instead, he began reading wonderful stories about princesses, knights in shining armor and happily-ever-after. Lured by music, Despereaux found himself in the presence of the Princess Pea and the King. When he first spotted the Princess Pea, he knew he was in Love. His mother, father, brother and the entire mouse council turned against him, for proclaiming his love for the princess.

Despereaux was measured for a noose, of red thread and taken to the dungeon. Never has a mouse survived the dungeon; not with all the hungry rats waiting for a tasty treat.

Love, forgiveness, bravery and a good story may save the life of Despereaux, but who will save the princess? She has been lured into the dungeon by a young girl, Miggery Sow, who wants to be a princess and a rat named Roscuro, who longs to live in the light.

You and your family will enjoy the tale of Despaureax. Parts of this story may be scary for younger children. There is also the mistreatment of the young Miggery Sow.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood
Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)
Stowaway: The San Francisco Adventures of Sara, the Pineapple Cat

¤

4) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. I highly suggest any parent, or child to read this book before seeing the movie. The author grabs the reader as if pulling the reader to be a part of the book that will not be captivated in the same manner in the movie. The chapters are short, entralling. It draws you in quickly, and if you read to your child, its a book that draws even my five year old son to ask for me to keep on, and looks forward to the next day to hear the upcoming chapter. It teaches new words for young readers, and the imagination is just wonderful. The quality of the make of the book is exceptional. The edges of the pages unique, and for reason that you have to read to why the pages are rough like they are. This indeed is a book to treasure for any age.¤

5) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. am 7 years old and i like the book of Despereaux because Despereaux was so little and it was funny because he have big ears but it was kind of sad when Despereaux went to the dungeon but all stories have happy endings so am sure the tale of Despereaux will have one. mig said to the chef why did you did that? when he cut despereaux tail and the chef shout so!¤

6) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. The cherished Newbery Medal winner receives a stunning new treatment in a slipcased edition featuring 24 new full-color illustrations.

The story of Despereaux Tilling —- a mouse in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea —- has enchanted children and adults around the globe. Now this instant classic by Kate DiCamillo, America’s beloved storyteller, takes on new life with the addition of twenty-four color illustrations by the incomparable Timothy Basil Ering, specially created for this collectible gift edition.¤

7) Hardcover Book The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux) by Candlewick. Kate DiCamillo, author of the Newbery Honor book Because of Winn-Dixie, spins a tidy tale of mice and men where she explores the "powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous" nature of love, hope, and forgiveness. Her old-fashioned, somewhat dark story, narrated "Dear Reader"-style, begins "within the walls of a castle, with the birth of a mouse." Despereaux Tilling, the new baby mouse, is different from all other mice. Sadly, the romantic, unmouselike spirit that leads the unusually tiny, large-eared mouse to the foot of the human king and the beautiful Princess Pea ultimately causes him to be banished by his own father to the foul, rat-filled dungeon.

The first book of four tells Despereaux´s sad story, where he falls deeply in love with Princess Pea and meets his cruel fate. The second book introduces another creature who differs from his peers--Chiaroscuro, a rat who instead of loving the darkness of his home in the dungeon, loves the light so much he ends up in the castle& in the queen´s soup. The third book describes young Miggery Sow, a girl who has been "clouted" so many times that she has cauliflower ears. Still, all the slow-witted, hard-of-hearing Mig dreams of is wearing the crown of Princess Pea. The fourth book returns to the dungeon-bound Despereaux and connects the lives of mouse, rat, girl, and princess in a dramatic denouement.

Children whose hopes and dreams burn secretly within their hearts will relate to this cast of outsiders who desire what is said to be out of their reach and dare to break "never-to-be-broken rules of conduct." Timothy Basil Ering´s pencil illustrations are stunning, reflecting DiCamillo´s extensive light and darkness imagery as well as the sweet, fragile nature of the tiny mouse hero who lives happily ever after. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 13-Nov-2008, 07636292869780763629281, 740-040-160-520-850-860-40B-8

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