Morality Tales
Like many fairy tales and fantasy stories, this one has a lot to teach us. It's an allegorical story, meaning that there are many layers of meaning in addition to the action of the story itself. Pa...
Illustrations
Are pictures really a thousand words? Yep. Since The Tale of Despereaux is aimed at young readers, the illustrations are important. Most kids love to read, but a few too many thousand words, and th...
Rats
Who likes rats? Nobody. The rats in this book look even scarier than the real thing (who can be kinda cute, btw). They've got impossibly long and skinny snouts, crooked whiskers, and tons of long,...
Soup
M-m-m good.In The Tale of Despereaux, there's one type of food that we hear a lot about: soup. Soup is Queen Rosemary's very favorite food, and it's what she happens to be eating in the moment that...
Light and Darkness
Dark dungeons vs. glittering castle rooms; a radiant princess vs. a dull, oppressed girl; love of art and music vs. obliviousness to it: probably the most obvious motif in the book is the contrast...
The Suit of Armor
Despereaux's way too small for a regular suit of armor. He'd get lost inside a soup can. But one night, Despereaux has a terrible dream about a suit of shining armor that turns out to be empty. He'...