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athenameilahn 's review for:
The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
I’m between 3 & 4 stars. Clever in some ways with regular nods to the reader and astute references to art history with character names like Chiaroscuro (a rat sentenced to a life constantly caught between the extremes of dark and light). Humorous-the king outlaws soup despite its perfection.
But it also reproduced the same tired damsel in distress tropes of so many kids’ books. The princess needs saving and only a male main character can do it. There’s a poor, ugly peasant girl who’s mistreated by her father and aspires only to be a princess. The queen does early on leaving the princess motherless. So original (sarcasm).
On top of that it almost totally lacked empathy. Despereaux’s family was judgmental and cruel. Miggery Sow was repeatedly degraded and abused. The king was a controlling buffoon. The rats and most of the mice were ruthless.
Come to think of it...definitely 3. Maybe even a 2.
But it also reproduced the same tired damsel in distress tropes of so many kids’ books. The princess needs saving and only a male main character can do it. There’s a poor, ugly peasant girl who’s mistreated by her father and aspires only to be a princess. The queen does early on leaving the princess motherless. So original (sarcasm).
On top of that it almost totally lacked empathy. Despereaux’s family was judgmental and cruel. Miggery Sow was repeatedly degraded and abused. The king was a controlling buffoon. The rats and most of the mice were ruthless.
Come to think of it...definitely 3. Maybe even a 2.