The Tale of Despereaux is a book about the power of love and bravery. Despereaux is a little mouse that was born different from other mice. He loved reading books, while other mice nibbled on them. As he was growing up, he soon fell in love with a princess who had lost her mom and was very clever and bright. But loving a human was against the rules of the mice, so he was sent to the dungeon. Meanwhile, a rat named Chiaroscuro hatched an evil plan against the princess. Chiaroscuro forced Mig to be part of it. Mig was a girl whose mother was dead, and her father sold her to a fake uncle who made her almost deaf. Of course Mig hesitated. But because she wanted to be a princess, she was in it. Little Despereaux fought like a knight for the princess, and at the end, they found a happy ending, and the castle was once more full of light and soup, music and beauty. I believe that Despereaux was mistreated by other mice. When Despereaux was born, he was very small and weak. No one understood him. What the other mice saw in their eyes was a dumb, useless creature, who fell in love with a human princess. Maybe Despereaux did break the law. But he was trying to listen to the music of the King while falling in love with the princess. The reason why this book is very satisfying is that little Despereaux became a hero and a knight, although he began as a failure and a mouse sentenced to death. When he tried to tell the king where the princess was, the king did not believe him. So poor little Despereaux did this by himself. He fought with the rats. And he saved the princess. Maybe the fight he had with the rats was not the same as all the battles by knights in fairy tales. But you see, the princess admitted in the end, “Despereaux, you are my knight,” and the little mouse abandoned by everyone he knew became the knight of the gorgeous princess. When I first saw little Despereaux being abandoned for his differences, I felt very sorrowful. I don’t think anyone should be abandoned or treated differently for being different. Little Despereaux was sentenced to the dungeon at a very young age. This was very cruel, and it made me angry. He was hated and about to die, just because he was different. To be honest, I could see myself a little bit when I was watching little Despereaux. It wasn’t like my family abandoned me. No, not at all. But when I moved to the USA, I was treated differently from my friends in my old school. Back in Korea, I was the most popular girl in the whole grade. But because I was in a whole different country, everyone abandoned me and played with me like I was a toy. Despereaux had reasons for what he was doing. And obviously, I had reasons for being different, too. Both Despereaux and I found our own way to be our own selves. After all, Despereaux is a mouse like all the others in his community, and I am a human like the others in mine. So we shouldn’t have been treated differently. Being different doesn’t mean you are being wrong. The Tale of Despereaux showed that to the readers. I thought it was very touching because once I was in Despereaux’s place. Being a kid who was abandoned by her friends and ended up being a hero, a knight, to them. I think Despereaux was brave for loving who he loved and forever being the knight of who he loved. I hope you can feel the emotion and truth of this story. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Candlewick Press, 2009. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Book Reviews
Author Interview: Damian Dibben, author The History Keepers, talks to blogger Madeline Sornson
Recently Stone Soup blogger and book reviewer Madeline Sornson had the opportunity to read The History Keepers by Damian Dibben, and ask the author some questions about the book, research, and his writing process. Read their conversation below. MS: How did you come up with the idea for The History Keepers? DD: Growing up, I loved two things. Firstly, history, with its epic sweep, colour and darkness, and its incredible characters. And I loved adventure stories, classic books like the Narnia series and films such as Indiana Jones and James Bond – with their similar casts of heroes and villains, exotic locations, mysteries and romance. I knew one day I wanted one day to write my own series. I was reading a picture book with my nephew about the history of all civilizations and how they linked together, from Ancient Egypt and China; from Roman to the Renaissance. I thought that history itself, would be the most amazing place in which to set my series. Everyone likes imagining escaping to the past. Once the story had begun to set in my head, it was a question of researching the periods so that I could really bring them to life and make the reader feel they are really there. MS: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? If not, what did you want to do when you grew up as a child? DD: I never thought I’d become a writer. Although I loved stories, more than anything, I was only moderately good at English at school. I was much better with anything that was visual, in particular art, design, film and theatre. I used to put on plays and make short films. I then trained in scenic design, became an actor for a while and, through a series of chances, started writing screenplays for movies. I realised I’d been writing all along, since I was young in fact. I don’t see it as a ‘literary’ pursuit, just the means by which you do absolute justice to an image, scene or character that’s in your head. With all this said, if I hadn’t have become a novelist, I would have loved, for obvious reasons, to have been an archaeologist or an explorer. MS: How do you feel when you finally finish a book? DD: Excited and very content, as if I’ve just polished off a delicious ten course meal. I’m usually in the mood to throw a party. MS: What do you think is the hardest thing about writing? DD: I talk about the easiest parts first. For me, these are at the beginning and the end of working on a book. The beginning is all about research and forming ideas and I find this thrilling, how the story grows organically in my mind, from tiny seeds until it has almost fully taken shape and the arc of each character has fallen into place. The end is satisfying too, tidying up, and signing off on artwork. Luxury jobs! So the hardest part is the long stretch in the middle, particularly the first draft. I liken the process to carving a sculpture out of marble or wood. Exciting to have the concept and do the first sketches, exciting to almost finish – and in the middle a very large amount of difficult, sometimes grinding work. MS: How did you develop the series? (did you plan it all out or piece it together as you went?) DD: I had an idea of how the larger, emotional story was going to play out over the series, particularly with regards to Jake’s family. (The first book starts with his mother and father being lost in history). I knew also that I would be travelling to ancient Rome in the second book, after Renaissance Europe in the first. Some of the other elements, and indeed characters, fell into place as I was writing. I carried on plotting throughout. There is supposed to be a fourth book, probably set in Ancient Egypt, but I am waiting for the go-ahead from the publishers, whilst I finish off two new books not connected with The History Keepers. MS: Do you have a favorite character in the History Keepers series? If you do, why is he/she your favorite? If you do not, why is that? DD: It’s incredibly hard to pick as I developed a bond with all the characters over the years, even some of the nasty ones. In a way, Jake is the closest one to myself (I felt very like him when I was fourteen!) so I’ll chose one of his friends. Nathan always makes me laugh and he’s only vain on the surface. Underneath, even in the first book but increasingly throughout, he has many noble qualities. Like all the History Keepers, he’s incredibly brave, faithful and dependable – and when a situation requires him to be serious, there is no one more decisive. Perhaps more than any though, I love Charlie, his dry wit, can-do attitude, love of food and kaleidoscopic mind. A picture of the author MS: Did you enjoy your research for these books? Was it difficult? DD: I love research and of course it’s a vital part of writing books like the History Keepers. I like to know the facts, what a place would sound like, feel like, smell like; what it would be like to arrive on a ship, on a dark night, into Venice during the Renaissance or come into Circus Maximus on a sweltering day in ancient Rome and witness a hundred and fifty thousand people (double the size of Wembley Stadium) cheering on the charioteers. I start off by reading kids encyclopedias (they often paint more enticing and vivid picture) then I go into more depth, often at the British Library. I like to travel to the country too. I went to Rome for a month to research Circus Maximus and could have walked around the Forum blind I’d done so much research beforehand! The
The History Keepers series by Damian Dibben, reviewed by Madeline Sornson, 12
Review of The History Keepers series by Damian Dibben 1. The Storm Begins 2. Circus Maximus 3. Nightship To China Review by Madeline Sornson, 12 Our protagonist Jake Djones is an ordinary boy with an extraordinary ability–much like the beloved Harry Potter. But Jake cannot wave a wand and cast spells; he can travel through time. And he must, in order to find his parents and rescue them from wherever they are in history. Damian Dibben opens the series with the kidnapping of fourteen-year-old Jake. He is driven to a base hidden beneath a monument in London, and then he sails away to 19th century France, where he meets the members of the History Keepers–a secret society that travels back in time to stop history from being meddled with. Jake discovers that his parents are a part of this society, and that they had been sent out on a mission from which they did not return. Determined to rescue them, Jake joins a group of advanced members (who would soon become his best friends) on their way to Renaissance Italy, where the evil Prince Zeldt is plotting to destroy the world. One of my favorite things about this series is that you get to travel with Jake to multiple different times and places in history. Circus Maximus takes place primarily in Ancient Rome, where Jake and his friends go to defeat Prince Zeldt’s sister, also known as the most evil woman in the world. Nightship To China is set, as you might expect, in Imperial China, where Jake goes to vanquish the terrifying, three-eyed Xi Xiang. The Storm Begins, Circus Maximus, and Nightship to China are well written, and have twists and turns waiting on every page. There were some frightening, violent scenes (like the one where Jake ends up in a dark pit with dozens of fifteen-foot-long black mambas), but the wit and humor Dibben wove in made the books fun to read while still being packed with action. These three books are almost impossible to put down. All ended in cliffhangers, so I hope that a fourth book is in the works. You will be desperate to find out what adventure Jake embarks on next. Overall, I loved The History Keepers: The Storm Begins, as well as its sequels, and I would absolutely recommend them to any reader in search of an adventurous, comical, and engaging series. The History Keepers series by Damian Dibben. Corgi Children’s (2001). Buy the books here and support Stone Soup in the process! A picture of the author, Damian Dibben Reviewer Madeline also did an interview with author Damian Dibben! To see the great questions Madeline asked, and to learn more about The History Keepers series, Damian’s writing process, and more, check out the interview here.
