The graduation announcements have been rolling in this week, along with RSVPs for the Time Capsule Opening for my final class of fourth graders, now high school seniors. So my mind’s been running through memories of our year together, recalling their 9 and 10-year-old faces, remembering the hopes and dreams they shared in their writing or in our whispered conversations in the hall or at my desk.
Those memories put me in the right frame of mind to read The Tale of Despereaux, a children’s chapter book recommended by my daughter and new son. (They are young adults who have already discovered a great truth – quality children’s books are some of the best literature around.) “You should read it,” they agreed. “It’s wonderful.”
Of course, they were right. This lovely tale of a tiny mouse with very big ears and a brave heart, written by Kate DiCamillo who also wrote Because of Wynn Dixie, is wonderful. It contains all the necessary fairy tale ingredients:
- an unlikely hero – the mouse described above facing an impossible task
- an dead queen – who died in her soup
- an stupid king – who despite his stupidity loves his wife and daughter with a pure heart
- an beautiful princess – of modern Disney quality, resourceful and spunky
- a blundering sidekick – a poor, ugly peasant girl with dreams of being a princess
- peasants with hearts of gold – a cook and a gruff jailer
- an evil villain – in this case, a highly despicable rat
DiCamillo combines those ingredients with love, red thread, cauliflower ears, a dungeon, a French mouse who wears too much make up, and the outlawing of everything soup – kettles, bowls, spoons, and broth – to serve up a tale that will warm the hearts of readers from ages 9 to 90. By the end of the story, the lives of young readers are enriched by the acquisition of a worthy fictional role model, the belief that some things are worth great sacrifice, and an expanded vocabulary, thanks to a story sprinkled with words glorious, but unfamiliar to most 9-year-olds.
The expanded vocabulary bit is enough to make a former elementary teacher’s heart beat a little faster. But what really got my heart beating was imagining reading The Tale of Despereaux aloud (and this is a book meant to be read aloud) to fourth graders. I could see the earnest eyes of little boys shining, as in their minds they became the tiny, heroic mouse, risking life and limb for good and truth and honor. I could see timid, young girls sitting up straighter as they started solving their own problems and showing compassion to those in need. For the first time in a long time, I was reminded of the power of story in the lives of children. For the first time in a long time, I missed my classroom. Only a powerful book could evoke such a response.
Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux is one powerful book. Simply put, it’s wonderful.
