The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo
Ages 8–11 · Grade 3–6 · 2003
Perfect for kids who love fairy tales with real emotional depth — Despereaux rewards readers who enjoy a story that makes them think and feel.
What this book builds
Reading feel
Stretch for a typical reader at this age
A bit more about the fit
- Engagement
- Moderate build
- Character energy
- Reluctant hero
- Social tone
- Mostly kind with light conflict
About the book
Despereaux Tilling is a tiny mouse, born with enormous ears and a sense of wonder unusual among his kind. He falls in love with a human princess named Pea, breaking the rules of mousedom. When the princess is kidnapped by a rat named Roscuro and a heartbroken servant girl named Miggery Sow becomes tangled in the plot, Despereaux must summon courage out of all proportion to his size. Told by a knowing, conversational narrator, the story weaves together the threads of a brave mouse, a misguided rat, a longing servant girl, and a grieving king into a fairy-tale meditation on light and dark, forgiveness, and the strange shapes that love takes.