Movie vs Book-The Tale of Despereaux

DiCamillo, K. (2003). The Tale of Despereaux. New York: Scholastic Inc.

(1). What did you like or dislike about the book?
I absolutely loved reading this story. The story made you care about the mouse, Despereaux, who was a little different than other mice. It was also written in a fun way, which engaged the readers’ interest.

(2). What in your life may have influenced your reaction or response to this book?
I think that I had high expectations for this book because I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Tiger Rising and loved them. The Tale of Despereaux was just as great as those books. I also think that already having loved stories with animals like Charlotte’s Web influenced my love for this book.

(3). How would you compare this book to another book or books, or book or books by same author?
This book reminded me of Stuart Little. Both tell stories of mice displaying acts of bravery.

(4). What new thing (information or insight) did you learn about children's literature in reading this book? The new thing I learned is it is okay for an author to include messages to the readers. I thought it was a fun way to include readers into the story they are reading.

(5). How would you compare the book to the movie?The movie of The Tale of Despereaux was disappointing as most movies are compared to the book. The movie expanded on different story elements and developed the characters more by adding in some extra pizzazz. I loved how they developed the character of Despearaux. I was glad they took out some of the violence from the book such as the girl getting hit in the ears. They also added some extra dramatic events that added more to the movie, but weren’t part of the book. An example of this is when Desperaux fights a cat. I was disappointed in the way that they didn’t follow the book as closely as it could have been. If I had seen the movie without having read the book first, I may have liked it more.