The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
by Kate DiCamillo, Timothy Ering
Insulting to 600,000 at risk children (8/5/2006)
I feel the Newberry committee deserves to be scolded on their choice of “The tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo, a Newberry medal winner; a child is abused and abandoned is not interesting enough the author felt the child should be slow-witted, fat and lazy as well. How dare the author make light of a child who is gratuitously scolded, beaten and abandoned. It added nothing to the story other than showing she had a “ridiculous wish” this author should be ashamed of herself.
A child who has faced abandonment, abuse and injury deserves to have a wish and not thought of as “ridiculous.”
I feel this author is un-kind and insulting to the 600,000 at-risk children in this country who dream of a day of safety. Are their dreams of a home and family “ridiculous”?