Customer Reviews

The Tale of Despereaux Movie Tie-In Storybook: A Hero's Quest

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 Movie Tie-In Storybook, intended for children ages 4-8.

I also found The Tale of Despereaux: The Graphic Novel and The Tale of Despereaux Movie Tie-In Junior Novelization on the shelves.

However, I could find no compelling reason to pass over the Newbery Medal-winning book, The Tale of Despereaux for any of these inferior movie tie-ins, none of which are an improvement on the original. Movie tie-ins simplify the original story, making it more accessible to younger readers. However, in this case, the original book is already accessible for young children and doesn't need dilution.

This storybook 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, there's no price advantage to choosing the movie tie-in edition over the original either.

In summary, skip the movie tie-in editions and stick with the original, which is accessible to young readers. However, if you're looking for an activity book, Candlewick does offer The Tale of Despereaux Coloring and Activity Book.

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.

My two year old grandson enjoyed reliving the movie, A Tale of Desperaux and this book allowed him to relive it. An abbreviated version of the story it captures the highlights and lets him look at the pictures of the scenes. It's geared for preschoolers as a read aloud book.