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Title: The Tale of Despereaux Special Edition: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux)
ISBN: 0763629286
Author:
Kate Dicamillo
Publicate Date: 2008-05-13
Publish: 2008-05-13
List Price: $29.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $18.76
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $18.96
Amazon Merchant Price: $19.79
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great book to read to kids
I read this book to both my 6 & 8 year old each night, a few chapters at a time. They always asked for it the next night and helped me read it to them. It kept them interested and I thought it was a good story. They now want to see the movie when it comes out. This will give us a good chance to discuss the differences between what is read (author's point of view) and the translation to movie format (director's pov).
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2: Lame plot and turgid prose
I had to make a first review here in protest at such junk packaged as high-brow kids lit. The dark content is off-putting, but all the more so because it comes with an exceedingly poor plot & is written in an achingly moronic style. Honestly, I think the book adaptations of straight to dvd barbie movies exhibit better literary flair. I'll reprint here another reviewers thoughts that echo my own...
Honestly a terribly written book. Those who think otherwise need to go back and look at Trumpet of the Swan or Charlotte's Web, just for a start. It is needlessly and endlessly repetitive ("the light, the light!" ugh, no need to bash children over the head), boring, dark, unimaginative, nonsensically cruel, and insulting to the intelligence ("now, reader, this is important:"). I'm astounded that this won a medal. There are much better investments of time and money, and no, I certainly DON'T mean Harry Potter.
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3: book good movie might bad
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.
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4: Pure Magic
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.
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5: Love, Forgiveness, and Bravery
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
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