The Tale of Despereaux

Author Biography

Katrina Elizabeth "Kate" DiCamillo born in Philadelphia on March 25, 1964. DiCamillo earned her college degree in English at the University of Florida in 1987 and worked in Florida after graduation. At age 30 she moved to Minneapolis and began working at a book warehouse. That job inspired her to write for children and allowed her to meet a sales representative for Candlewick Press, resulting in submission of a draft that would become Because of Winn-Dixie. Her 2003 novel The Tale of Despereaux was inspired by a friend's son, Luke Bailey, who asked her to write about an unlikely hero with "exceptionally large ears".

The novel is divided into four books. Book I covers Despereaux's childhood; Book II focuses on Roscuro, a dungeon rat with a mysterious past. The third book is about Miggery Sow, a servant girl who is sold by her father for a red table cloth, a handful of cigarettes and a hen. The first three books are set years apart, all building up to the fourth book, which concludes the novel. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_DiCamillo)

Summary

Within a castle, Despereaux was born with small body, large ears, and his eyes open.  His birth was a kind of disappointment for his parents, because he was the only mouse that still alive after the other mouse that born with him dead. Therefore, his parents named him “Despereaux”, for all the sadness and for the many despairs in that place.

Despereaux was a mouse who liked music. Through this likeness he could knew and fell in love with Princess Pea. He knew Pea when the music sound that was played by King Philip made him sitting near the foot of the King, so Pea saw him, then touch him. This was which forced him to be sent to the darkness dungeon, the place where Roscuro, a rat born in several years before Despereaux was born.

Chiaroscuro was the rat that had killed the Queen, the wife of King Philip, in the castle party. The queen dead after Roscuro made her surprised by fell to her bowl of soup. Since that moment, King Philip wanted to kill Roscuro, and it made Roscuro wanted to make Princess Pea suffer. Roscuro created a plan to make his want was done. He played along with the serve girl, Miggery Sow kidnapping Pea at a sleepy time. At that time, Despereaux appeared to save the princess, after Gregory, a kind rat, helped him to be free from imprisonment.

However, Princess Pea, who knew that Despereaux came to save her from the rat, prohibited Despereaux to kill him. She gave apologize to Roscuro and Mig, for their entire mistake. Moreover, she made Mig as a princess, suitable with Mig’s desire in her life and made soup party, for the Rescuro. After several month soup was decided as illegal because of King’s traumatic. Finally, they were happily ever after. Not because of Despereaux got his love and got married, but it was because all of them became friends.

Characters

Ø  Princess Pea: Alone At Last

Ø  Despereaux Tilling: An Honest Knight

Ø  Chiaroscuro: Light and Soup Lover

Ø  Miggery Sow: A Dreamer

Ø  Botticelli Remorso: Suffer Lover

Ø  Gregory : The Jailer

Ø  Furlough Tilling: Betrayer Brother

Ø  Lester Tilling & Antoinette Tilling: Despereaux Parents

Ø  Cook: Mice Hater

Ø  King Philip: Princess Pea’s Father

Moral Value

1.      Don’t easy to underestimate others, especially who have the weakness.

2.      Don’t underestimate yourself.

3.      Don’t be negative thinking before you know the truth.

4.      It doesn’t matter if you are different. Differences are unique.

5.      Think before you act, so you will not hurt others.

6.      Give priority to forgive, vengeful is useless.

7.      Do everything with love, so the most difficult things will solve easily.

The Unique Things

1.      Despereaux was a French mouse, but his mother named him “Despereaux”, that was taken from English word “despair”.

2.      Despereaux was born with his eyes open, it seems impossible.

3.      Despereaux was the mouse that created his bravery from a story of a knight in a book.

Referrence

DiCamillo, Kate. 2003. The Tale of Despereaux. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.