Having read and loooooooooooooved The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, when I saw Desperaux as I was reshelving books at my son's school, I had to borrow it.
One of the first things that caught my eye was the "about the author" note at the front of the book.
Of "The Tale of Despereaux," Kate says, "My best friend's son asked me if I would write a story for him. "It's about an unlikely hero," he said, "one with exceptionally large ears." "What happens to this hero?" I asked. "I don't know," he said. "That's why I want you to write the story, so we can find out."Seriously, how cool to have a story written about a hero with exceptionally large ears because you want to find out what happens.
Despereaux is a mouse with exceptionally large ears and exceptionally non-mousy behaviour. Having fallen in love with the human princess and broken several mouse rules, he is banished to the dungeon where the rats live. What follows is the tale of how he escapes and how he saves the princess as well.
DiCamillo is a fantastic children's writer. While I think Edward is better than Despereaux, I can see me buying a copy of this and others she had written. Her books have that wonderful magical quality needed to shine in the world of children's fiction. It will be read aloud frequently in this house!