The Tale of Despereaux: The Graphic Novel [Paperback]

Matt Smith (Author), David Tilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2008 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Tale of Despereaux

This fresh new graphic format, featuring all-new artwork inspired by the film The Tale of Despereaux, is destined to bring Kate DiCamilllo's award-winning classic to an even wider audience.

The Tale of Despereaux tells the story of several unlikely heroes: Despereaux, a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro, a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea, a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father's grief; and Mig, a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer. Refusing to live his life cowering, Despereaux befriends Princess Pea and learns to read (rather than eat) books - reveling in stories of knights, dragons and fair maidens. Banished from Mouse World for being more man than mouse, Despereaux is rescued by another outcast, Roscuro, who wants to hear the tales. But when the Princess dismisses Roscuro's friendship, he becomes the ultimate rat and plots revenge with fellow outsider Mig. After Pea is kidnapped, Despereaux discovers he is the only one who can rescue her.

Kate DiCamillo's literary classic about Despereaux Tilling has enchanted children and adults around the globe. In this tale of bravery, forgiveness and redemption, one small creature teaches a kingdom that it takes only a little light to show the truth: What you look like doesn't equal what you are. Published in 23 languages, with more than 2 million copies in print, a New York Times #1 bestseller and winner of the Newbery Medal, The Tale of Despereaux is now animated adventure from Universal Pictures.

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. All Rights Reserved.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–7—This graphic novel is based not on Kate DiCamillo's original novel, but is adapted from the movie script of the recent film. The story of the brave mouse who rescues a princess is told not only through paneled illustrations, but also through an ongoing narration, giving the tale more prose than most graphic novels. The result is that there is less pressure on the pictures to show the emotions of the characters, making the rare moments when they carry the story more powerful. The cartoon-style artwork depicts the movie-concept characters in a straightforward fashion that sometimes seems oversimplified for the sophisticated text. The characters appear softer than their movie counterparts, particularly Princess Pea, whose tears make a particularly lovely set of four panels. Though the story comes through clearly and the pacing is fast and action-oriented, the book feels like the adaptation it is, and seems like it is only scratching the surface of the characters. It will work as a substitute for children who have seen the film and can't wait until it comes out on DVD, and will hopefully inspire many of those same readers to pick up the original tale.—Alana Joli Abbott, James Blackstone Memorial Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763640751
• ISBN-13: 978-0763640750
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.3 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Animals > Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs & Squirrels > Nonfiction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Two boys' review: Buy the original and skip this comic book, December 9, 2008

By 

Jared Castle (Roseburg, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux: The Graphic Novel (Paperback)

My sons, ages 6 and 4, are a bit younger than the target audience (8-to-12-year olds) for The Tale of Despereaux so I went to a bookstore to look over the options. That's where I came across this graphic novel. I also found The Tale of Despereaux Movie Tie-In Storybook and The Tale of Despereaux Movie Tie-In Junior Novelization on the shelves.

I'm not opposed to the graphic novel (comic book) format. In fact, I own a collection of Classics Illustrated to introduce my sons to literature. I even gave a 4-star review to Chuck Jones' Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a colorful yet simple version of Rudyard Kipling's story.

The product description for this edition states: "This fresh new graphic format, featuring all-new artwork inspired by the film The Tale of Despereaux, is destined to bring Kate DiCamilllo's award-winning classic to an even wider audience." However, I could find no compelling reason to pass over the Newbery Medal-winning book, The Tale of Despereaux for the graphic novel of any other movie tie-in.

This graphic novel and the paperback edition of the original are eligible for Amazon's 4-for-3 promotion (Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free.) So, again, there's no advantage to choosing the movie tie-in edition over the original.

In summary, skip this graphic novel and the other movie tie-in editions and stick with the original, which is more than accessible for young readers.

BTW: Our introduction to author Kate DiCamillo came by way of her Christmas picture book, Great Joy, which I also highly recommend and gave a 5-star review here on Amazon.

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Adaptation of Novel, Poor Example of a Graphic Novel, and Terrible Marketing Ploy, June 4, 2010

By 

tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux: The Graphic Novel (Paperback)

This "graphic novel" is adapted from the movie that is based upon the novel by Kate DiCamillo. I haven't yet seen the movie, so I don't know how closely this book follows the movie. However, I have read the original book and I have read a lot of graphic novels and THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL is a poor adaptation of the original story and a terrible imitation of a graphic novel.

Despereaux's story is similar to that of the original novel. Roscuro the Rat has a different origins story, though the tale of the soup remains, and he's not as vicious and vindictive as he is in the novel. Meanwhile, Mig Sow's role has been reduced and she doesn't seem to have any of the physical ailments that the novel describes her as having. There's also a whole new character of a "soup genie" that is added. I'm sure that in the movie the character is there to add some lightheartedness and comic relief to what studios thought is "too dark a story for kids". It might work better in the movie, but when I read this graphic novel I thought it was completely ridiculous.

The illustrations aren't very colorful or defined. There isn't really a particular style to them and they have no substance. In fact, most of them look like snapshots from a poorly drawn cartoon.

In short, THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL is a poor adaptation designed for the sole purpose of marketing THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX movie. It's a poor graphic novel and, therefore, not a very good piece of marketing either. Young children who love the movie might enjoy this book, but other than that it's a book that has no audience or worth.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, May 20, 2009

By 

Madigan McGillicuddy "Librarian" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux: The Graphic Novel (Paperback)

I must confess, I haven't read the original book, or seen the animated movie. I just finished reading this graphic novel adaptation and I came into it pretty darn skeptical... a comic book, based on the movie... based on the original novel? How good could it be? I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It's light-hearted and moves swiftly. Obviously, it's a completely different animal from the original work, but taken completely on it's own merits it's pretty good.

The book opens with Roscuro the Rat, sailing in for the Kingdom of Dor's Royal Soup Day, which is apparently an even bigger celebration than Christmas. Chef Andre's top-secret to his sumptious soups is his helper, a magical being made of vegetables. Meantime, among the mice, an unusually brave and intrepid Despereaux is born. His teachers soon despair of teaching him how to cower and scurry as ordinary mice do, which is handled with a fair bit of humor. "Despereaux, there are so many wonderful things in life to be afraid of it you just learn how scary they are."

After the Queen accidentally drowns in a bowl of soup (it's handled in such a way that it's not nearly as gruesome as it sounds) the King outlaws soup and a gloom descends over the country. When Despereaux is exiled from his community for his continually un-mousy behavior (reading books, befriending princesses and the like) he and Roscuro team up and eventually bring soup (and happiness) back to the Kingdom of Dor.

The bold dark outlines in the artwork lend a hand-drawn feel to this digitally created piece. The style of the full-color drawings seems inspired by the film; just a bit more cartoonish and with a slightly muted palette.