Check out our Most Anticipated Books for 2025

What readers think of The Tale of Despereaux, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, Timothy Ering

The Tale of Despereaux

Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread

by Kate DiCamillo, Timothy Ering
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Aug 1, 2003, 272 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2006, 272 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 11 of 11
There are currently 86 reader reviews for The Tale of Despereaux
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

Mika

This book wasn't the best and not the worst. I read it for a book project and I was able to do my pjoject on it.
Palendrome

It was kinda pathetic. What does soup have to do with the price of eggs? It was really short too. She needed a better foundation on the story and the book was kinda predictable and I don't like those type of books.
Grabow De-Jordenae

Oh my gosh
What a horrible book. It is like I am in a time machine and am back to second grade. It bored me to sleep and it is a total wast of time to read. Not to mention the book is not even on spark notes and cliff notes.
KARISSA BRADFORD

I totally love this book! it is sad,funny,exciting and informational all at one time. my favorite character is the Princess Pee!
Rachel Graham

Insulting to 600,000 at risk children
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”?
Amber D

Amber - BookBrowse

Hi Kassandra,

The best way to contact an author, if they don't have a website listed, is to write to them c/o their publisher. In this case you would send it to:

Kate DiCamillo c/o
Candlewick Press, Inc.
2067 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
FAX: (617) 661-0565


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Book of George
    The Book of George
    by Kate Greathead
    The premise of The Book of George, the witty, highly entertaining new novel from Kate Greathead, is ...
  • Book Jacket: The Sequel
    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz
    In Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Sequel, Anna Williams-Bonner, the wife of recently deceased author ...
  • Book Jacket: My Good Bright Wolf
    My Good Bright Wolf
    by Sarah Moss
    Sarah Moss has been afflicted with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa since her pre-teen years but...
  • Book Jacket
    Canoes
    by Maylis De Kerangal
    The short stories in Maylis de Kerangal's new collection, Canoes, translated from the French by ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

I like a thin book because it will steady a table...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.