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

Write your own review!

Emily

The Tale of Desperaeux
100% Fabulous. One of my 2 favorite books!
Ian Sorrell

THE TAIL OF DESPEREAUX
I loved this book. It was a 7th grade project and we had so much fun reading the book, doing the project and seeing the movie!
josephine

the tale of despereaux
This has million of tales in one story. It has action fame and lots of beauty. Read this book the first time and you'll fall in love with it. When I read this book I loved it and smiled through the whole book . It is good for all ages and has such great descriptions. Read this book before its to late!
Hayle watkins

COOL!
The tale of Despereaux is my favorite book! It is AWESOME!
onagap adnicaj

A Wonderful great written book
I thought that this book takes you on a journey that will definitely keep you in your seats and it just unwinds a story of a child's past to a rat who was never supposed to see the light but took his chance & couldn't get enough of it then it takes you on a epic ride through the life of mouse that was afraid of not much and had ears to big for his small little head.
amy

Detailed Despereaux
Where should I start...how about the title? Ok. In the book, the author, Kate DiCamillo, uses details amazingly. I can go on commenting this book forever but, I just want to get to the point. The tale of Despereaux is a story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. If you have a chance READ THIS BOOK! I give it 5 stars out of 5.
kiwi

Love this book
When I was in 5th grade my teacher read this book to me. I hate to read. this book along with Marley and Me are my favorite book. I have read The Tale of Despereaux 13 times and I'm almost done with reading it for my 14th time. Kate DiCamllio has a method to writing she adds a little bit of real life with fantasy, and she always writes about an animal. I'm glad I have to a do a book report on this book especially since its worth 1/4 of our grade. Wish me luck. I hope you have or had the same feeling as me, the love this book!!!!
Deeinmetcalfe

The Tale of Desperaux
Our first intro to Kate DiCamillo was through Mercy Watson, the pig (for younger readers). From there we went to 'The Miraculous Adventures of Edward Tulane' which is more on the level of Desperaux and equally wonderful. We bought 'The Tale of Desperaux on CD and love it. I believe it's word for word and this gently dark humour has us laughing out loud. We're listening to it for the 4th time. My son loves it. He was 8 when we first listened to it and we all still enjoy it. Kate DiCamillo's writing inspires so many emotions. She does a wonderful job of incorporating some of the harsher realities of life, but keeping it appropriate for younger kids and she mixes it well with intelligent, captivating story telling. For me, her style is a good mix of the real and the romantic without being saccharin or condescending. I'll buy anything she writes!

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...

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading, you wish the author that wrote it was a ...

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.