THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX
Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
2004 Newberry Medal Award Winner
Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other’s lives.
2004 Newberry Medal Award Winner
Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other’s lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.
With black-and-white illustrations and a refreshed cover by Timothy Basil Ering. A brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Medal–winning tale.
- Candlewick Press
- Paperback
- April 2006
- 272 Pages
- 9780763625290
Buy the Book
$7.99
About Kate DiCamillo & Timothy Basil Ering (Illustrator)
Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers. She is the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist. She is the author of many books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux, which received a Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award Finalist; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, winner of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award; The Magician’s Elephant; and the best-selling Mercy Watson series. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.
In his illustrations for The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, Tim Ering steers his extraordinary talent in the direction of a classical style—with a contemporary flair. Says the illustrator, “My mother may have been a mouse in her past life, as I watched her save and help so many mice in our house while I was growing up. The illustrations I’ve done of Despereaux Tilling are, in a way, my tribute to her.” The Tale of Despereaux is Tim Ering’s third book for Candlewick Press. He is both author and illustrator of The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone, his first picture book—the tale of a boy who finds strange, specklike treasures, and the unforgettable creature who watches over them while they grow. For Adam Rapp’s young adult novel 33 Snowfish, Tim Ering created not only the haunting cover image, but also interior drawings that represent notebook sketches of a troubled teenage character. Tim Ering’s artwork has appeared in books, magazines, theater sets, private murals, and fine art galleries. The invariably paint-splattered artist lives and works in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Praise
Newberry Medal Award Winner
Booklist Editors’ Choice
One of Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books of the Year
“Soul stirring and charming.”—Booklist
“Despereaux . . . stands shoulder to shoulder with such legendary literary mice as E.B. White’s Stuart Little and Margery Sharp’s Bernard and Miss Bianca. ‘Reader, it is his destiny’ —just as it is for The Tale of Despereaux to become another timeless classic in the once-upon-a-time genre.”—Orlando Sentinel
“Heart-stopping and heartwarming. . . . The perfect read-aloud.”—San Francisco Chronicle