Interest Level: 3-5 grade
Genre: Fantasy
Despereaux is a mouse who is in love with the Princess Pea. Chiaroscuro is a rat who is forced to live in darkness but longs to live in the light. Miggery Sow is a servant girl who wants to be a princess. The three stories of these characters will converge when Chiaroscuro, who is plotting revenge against Pea, convinces Miggery that she can become a princess if she helps him kidnap the real Princess. Despereaux must go into the dungeon of the castle, a very dangerous place for a mouse, in order to save the Princess.
Yes, I would use this book in the classroom. The story is divided into four books. It would be a great book to introduce students to story structure. The first three books give background information on three of the main characters from birth until the events that take place in book four. Students could determine what order the events in each character’s life occurred relative to the other two characters. This story teaches a lot of good vocabulary words. The author defines them in the book and encourages the reader to look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
South Carolina State Standards for ELA
Standard 4-1 The student will read and comprehend a variety of literary texts in print and nonprint formats.
Indicator 4-1.5 Analyze the impact of characterization and conflict on plot
Using the above standards, the students would work on a character study in literature circles. The students would discuss each character and their importance in the story. With this being a compilation of four books, each student could take a character and analyze in their small group.
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