Despereaux and Friends

Gor! This is a beautiful story. It reminds me of the movie The Princess Bride, which has a certain clever yet sweet humor and style that's hard to describe to someone who hasn't seen it. I really do need to get that video so my kids can see it soon. I'm looking forward to sharing The Tale of Despereaux (by Kate DiCamillo) with them just as much, which should tell you something about it (if you're a Princess Bride fan, anyway).

DrBacchus has already written an eloquent post on The Tale, but I'd like to put down some of my favorite passages here:

"Have I mentioned that beneath the castle there was a dungeon? In the dungeon, there were rats. Large rats. Mean rats.
Despereaux was destined to meet those rats.
Reader, you must know than an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform." (p. 25)

" 'Is that proper, do you think? Wouldn't that make this into some kind of topsy-turvy, wrong-headed world if a king played music for a bug?' " (p. 29)

"Unfortunately, a rat can hang from a chandelier for only so long before he is discovered. This would be true at even the loudest party." (p. 107)

The Tale of Despereaux is full of beautiful but sadly uncommon words, like adieu, egregious, perfidy, cauliflower-eared, and jig. The stories of Despereaux, Roscuro, Princess Pea, and Miggery Sow intertwine in a delightful, suspenseful, and ultimately satisfying manner. In short, I'm very, very happy to have read this book, and I'm looking forward to reading more by Kate DiCamillo.