The Tale of Despereaux
By Kate DiCamillo
Newberry Medal Award
As soon as I picked up the book, I was immediately intrigued. Perhaps it was DiCamillo’s unlikely hero dedication to Luke, her son’s best friend, or the feel of the paper mache edges of the book that peeked my interest, or the prestige of the Newberry Award… whatever it was, I was instantly attached to the text! Throughout my reading, I found the story itself an inspiring love tale, and insightful into the dungeon life of a castle. (How many times do we actually think about the dungeon life of rats, and how rats differ from mice?) However, my favorite aspect of the entire book was the manner in which DiCamillo addressed the reader. I loved that she directly spoke to her reader! As a teacher, I strive to make my students question, determine importance, look up definitions of unfamiliar words, but coaching these strategies to use these strategies is a task! I think DiCamillo beautifully modeled appropriate times in which the reader should practice these comprehension skills. I think this text would be an excellent choice to read aloud to model how the reader actively interacts in the text. In class on Monday, Dr. Johnson said The Tale of Despereaux would be an excellent read aloud choice because of the cliff hanger chapter endings. I enjoyed the story, and I definitely agree – it would be a perfect read aloud for both reasons.
Starting in Book One, I found Despereaux’s character heroic, but his family very much bothered me. I was upset that the mouse with big ears was “such a disappointment” to his parents and brother just because he was didn’t follow the expectations of mice. However, I was very impressed with Despereaux’s dreamy spirit. Regardless of obstacles he faced throughout the story, Despereax remained determined to live with a fairy tale ending. My heart ached for him as he was shunned from his family, held in the hand of Gregory, attempted to skid past the chef in the kitchen, and when he bravely confronted Roscurro. “Love is a powerful, wonderful, ridiculous thing, capable of moving mountains” repeated DiCamillo’s text, justifying Despereaux’s heroic actions. I cheered, I cringed, and I smiled as Despereaux diligently pursued his dreams of the princess.
I also liked the surprise ending in the final chapter. DiCamillo’s challenge to the reader to think of the entire story as a tale of a mouse in escape of darkness was extremely clever. It was a twist that altered my perspective of book. What if the tale was created to save someone from the darkness? I wonder if DiCamillo placed the chapter as a forward, would it have changed my perspective of the text as I read the book… would I have focused on the escape of darkness as I read the book. Was I supposed to understand as I read the book that the characters were all trying to save themselves from their own “darkness” without her stating so in the last chapter? I wonder if she even considered placing the final chapter as a forward. Regardless, I absolutely loved the book, and believe it would be an entertaining text for all ages of readers!
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4 comments:
Interesting idea to put the end of the book at the beginning. I definitely hadn't thought of that! Would we have gotten as much out of it? Would we have been looking more for the "light" and the "dark"? I'm sure that when we read it again, our perspective will be changed because we've read the end already. Also, I loved the paper mache edges too. It made me feel like this story had been written down on paper and given to me instead of published and mass-produced for everyone. I almost wish every book was this way.
Do you think you will read it to your class? I think it would be fabulous and would love to hear how it goes!!
Throughout the book, I thought about how the light and dark worked together in the story-- from Roscuro's name meaning where light and dark are together (fitting name for him, I think) to Despereaux looking at the light from the moment he was born. The last chapter, added a whole new dimension to my understanding of the story.
When I picked the book up for the first time, I thought, great another story about a mouse. I tend to be turned off by sophisticated novels about animals. This one was the exception for me. The animals in the story were humanized in a way that made me rush to turn the page and see what would happen next. At several points I wondered how the author would tie it all together. I loved it!
I also like reading about your perspective on wondering if DiCamillo's Coda was instead used as a forward would have made me think differently along my reading journey. I think that as a reader, trying to figure out meanings of figurative events and phrases, and at the end, when she closes with the ideas that she wants to make sure you walk away from the story with on your mind, it is both verifying and enlightening to merge my main ideas with her finishing details to complete the story's package. On another note, I personally also found the visual formatting of the book intruiging, with its details from the pages, to the font, to the colors and wistful illustrations. Of course, the prestigious Newbery Medal literally adds luster, but the overall novel format gives the book a richness and integrity that supports the old world, romantic tone to the story itself.
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