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Description edit
Despereaux Tilling is a mouse. A small mouse. A different mouse. He becomes a complete outcast and has to face harsh punishment even more than ever when he falls in love with a princess- imagine! A human! Despereaux is sentenced to the dungeon by his fellow mice and even his own family.... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
The Tale of Desperaux is about a mouse named Desperaux Tilling. He is small and different than any other mouse. Desperaux is in love with a princess and is not supposed to be. Desperaux is sent to the dungeon but he luckily makes it out of there without being eaten. Miggery Sow a lazy servant... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Despereaux Tilling: The protagonist of the story. A small mouse with big ears, born with his eyes open. He is dissatisfied with the normal life of a mouse and seeks a better world through books, music and love.
- Lester Tilling: Despereaux's father. He sets the wheels in motion to have Despereaux sentenced to his death. When Despereaux miraculously survives, Lester seeks and receives Despereaux's forgiveness.
- Antoinette: Despereaux's dramatic, self-centered mother; originally from France.
- Furlough Tilling: Desperaux's brother who cannot understand Despereaux's unique qualities.
- Despereaux: An unusual mouse who has a quest.
- Princess Pea: The Princess of Dor and the only child of the king and queen, Pea is a poised and beautiful girl whom Despereaux grows to honor and love upon their first meeting. Pea also comes to adore the mouse. Though kind-hearted and loved by the people of the castle, Pea is often overcome with loneliness after her mother's death. Because of her title as a princess, Pea is not used to being told what to do and sometimes takes slight offense when someone does not appreciate her for her title. However, when her past actions cause her kidnapping, Pea comes to use her forgiveness, good nature, and place as royalty for the good of the other characters.
- Gregory, the Jailer: The jailer who lives in the dark maze of the dungeon. When Despereaux tells Gregory a story he saves himself from being killed by the rats. He wears a long rope that protects him from getting lost in the dungeon's darkness. Chiaroscuro chews on his rope and as a result Gregory burns off his whiskers with a match. Miggery Sow is sent to deliver him his food as a new job.
- Miggery Sow: Miggery Sow is a simple, kind, clumsy serving girl, who wants to be a Princess. Her father traded her for a red cloth, some cigarettes and a chicken to an abusive guardian. When she arrives at the castle, she is mislead by the angry rat, Roscuro, into abducting the Princess Pea. The Princess however, explains to Mig, that the most important thing is love, and then everyone can be royal.
- Botticelli Remorso: The antagonist of the story, Botticelli is a very old one-eared rat who lives in the dungeon and is suspicious of Roscuro. Botticelli believes that the meaning of life is suffering, specifically the suffering of others, and that Roscuro should take action, and become a part of the rat community. He had taken a golden heart-shaped locket from a prisoner and hung it on a thin braided rope. Whenever Botticelli spoke, the locket moved. Botticelli is evil, and wishes for the princess to die. Later in the book, he plots to kill Despereaux and the princess to feed them to his army of malicious rats.
- Cook: The castle chef. She makes delicious soup and continues to make soup secretly even during the king's ban. Does not like mice.
- Hovis: The thread master. He is the one to bring the thread and tie it on to victim sentenced to the dungeon. Later unties the rope from around Desereaux's neck. He also gave Desperaux the string and needle to not get lost in the dungeon.
- The King: Bans soup from the kingdom and hates rats due to the circumstances of his queen's death. He plays sad songs on his guitar and cries all the time over the loss of his queen.
- The prisoner: Greogory hears the story of the prisoner, who rues his decision to trade his daughter for some red cloth, a handful of cigarettes, and a hen. The prisoner is Miggery Sow's father and is reunited with her in the end.
Quotes edit
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“"Wasn't it a good thing to love? In the story in the book, love was a very good thing. Because the knight loved the fair maiden, he was able to rescue her. They lived happily ever after. It said so. in the book. They were the last words on the page. Happily ever after."”
Despereaux Tilling -
“Reader, if you don't mind, that is where we will leave our small mouse for now. In the dark of the dungeon, in the hand of an old jailer, telling a story to save himself.”
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“Despereaux looked down at the book, and something remarkable happened. The marks on the pages, the "squiggles" as Merlot referred to them, arranged themselves into shapes. The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time.”
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“But Despereaux wasn't listening to Furlough. He was staring at the light pouring in through the stained-glass windows of the castle. He stood on his hind legs and held his handkerchief over his heart and stared up, up up into the brilliant light."Furlough," he said, "what is this thing? What are all these colors? Are we in heaven?"”
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“Gor!" shouted Mig. "Soup is illegal." "But soup is good." said Despereaux. "Yes," said the Pea. "Isn't it?"”
Mig, Despereaux and the Pea -
“The dungeon is dark. Stories are light. Make some light mouse, make some light.”
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform.
Highlighted by 143 Kindle customers -
There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman.
Highlighted by 100 Kindle customers -
Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.”
Highlighted by 98 Kindle customers -
Reader, nothing is sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name. Nothing.
Highlighted by 96 Kindle customers -
Reader, do you think that it is a terrible thing to hope when there is really no reason to hope at all? Or is it (as the soldier said about happiness) something that you might just as well do, since, in the end, it really makes no difference to anyone but you?
Highlighted by 75 Kindle customers -
Pea was aware suddenly of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light.
Highlighted by 56 Kindle customers -
He let the light from the upstairs world enter him and fill him. He gasped aloud with the wonder of it.
Highlighted by 53 Kindle customers -
The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time.
Highlighted by 50 Kindle customers -
His brother Furlough took him on a tour of the castle to demonstrate the art of scurrying.
Highlighted by 41 Kindle customers -
perfidy. Reader, do you know what “perfidy” means? I have a feeling you do, based on the little scene that has just unfolded here. But you should look up the word in your dictionary, just to be sure.
Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
First Sentence edit
The story begins within the walls of a castle with the birth of a mouse.
Table of Contents edit
Book the First - A Mouse is Born
Chapter One -- the last one
Chapter Two -- such a disappointment
Chapter Three -- once upon a time
Chapter Four -- enter the Pea
Chapter Five -- what Furlough saw
Chapter Six -- this drum
Chapter Seven -- a mouse in love
Chapter Eight -- to the rats
Chapter Nine -- the right question
Chapter Ten -- good reasons
Chapter Eleven -- the threadmaster cometh
Chapter Twelve -- adieu
Chapter Thirteen -- perfidy unlimited
Chapter Fourteen -- darkness
Chapter Fifteen -- light
Book the Second - Chiaroscuro
Chapter Sixteen -- blinded by the light
Chapter Seventeen -- small comforts
Chapter Eighteen -- confessions
Chapter Nineteen -- light, light everywhere
Chapter Twenty -- a view from a chandelier
Chapter Twenty-One -- the queen's last words
Chapter Twenty-Two -- he puts his heart together again
Chapter Twenty-Three -- consequences
Book the Third - Gor! The Tale of Miggery Sow
Chapter Twenty-Four -- a handful of cigarettes, a red tablecloth, and a hen
Chapter Twenty-Five -- a vicious circle
Chapter Twenty-Six -- royalty
Chapter Twenty-Seven -- a wish
Chapter Twenty-Eight -- to the castle
Chapter Twenty-Nine -- start with the cursy and finish with the thread
Chapter Thirty -- to the dungeon
Chapter Thirty-One -- a song in the dark
Chapter Thirty-Two -- beware the rats
Chapter Thirty-Three -- a rat who knows her name
Book the Fourth - Recalled to Light
Chapter Thirty-Four -- kill 'em, even if they's already dead
Chapter Thirty-Five -- the knight in shining armor
Chapter Thirty-Six -- what Mig carried
Chapter Thirty-Seven -- a small taste
Chapter Thirty-Eight -- to the dungeon
Chapter Thirty-Nine -- missing!
Chapter Forty -- forgiveness
Chapter Forty-One -- the tears of a king
Chapter Forty-Two -- the rest of the thread
Chapter Forty-Three -- what Cook was stirring
Chapter Forty-Four -- whose ears are those?
Chapter Forty-Five -- some soup
Chapter Forty-Six -- mouse blood, yes
Chapter Forty-Seven -- no choice
Chapter Forty-Eight -- on the tail of a rat
Chapter Forty-Nine -- what do you want, Miggery Sow?!
Chapter Fifty -- in which the princess says his name
Chapter Fifty-One -- what is that smell?
Chapter Fifty-Two -- happily ever after
Chapter Fifty-Three --
Coda
Glossary edit
- perfidy: Deceitfulness; untrustworthiness. Synonyms: treachery - treason - betrayal - disloyalty
- Chiaroscuro: Italian for the arrangement of light and dark, darkness and light together
- Mon Dieu!: French for "My heavens!" or "Oh goodness!"
- C'est moi?: French for "it's me?"
- adieu: farwell in french,
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Newbery Medal. (authoritative list)
This is book 721 of 986 in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Kate DiCamillo (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Timothy B. Ering (Illustrator)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 9780763625290
Page Count: 269
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 9780763625290
Page Count: 269
Awards edit
- Newbery Medal (2004, Winner)
- Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (Finalist, 2004: Children's Literature, Finalist)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PZ8.D525Tal
- Dewey: 813.54
Subjects edit
- Books › Children's Books › Literature › Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths › Stories
- Books › Children's Books › Animals › Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs & Squirrels › Fiction
- Books › Children's Books › Authors & Illustrators, A-Z › ( D ) › DiCamillo, Kate
- Books › Children's Books › Literature › Action & Adventure
- Books › Children's Books › Ages 9-12
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