Not just for kids…
I know that because I teach kids, I am exposed to Children’s Literature on a daily basis. I get to read, along with my kids, great books that (unfortunately!) fall into the category “Children’s Literature.” Adults skip right past them on the shelves because they think that the books are only for kids and the story lines and messages are basic, shallow and childish. Ugh!
I am reading this amazing book called The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo. It falls into the category of Children’s Lit. Sure, it is about an unlikely hero (a mouse, with exceptionally large ears, that doesn’t know how to be a mouse), and has a fairy tale plot line (the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread), but it is not as basic as it sounds at first!
I started to read it because all of my children are reading it. It is funny, engaging, an easy read and surprisingly thought provoking. Here are a few of my thoughts… and a brief synopsis!
The hero, Despereaux, is the only survivor of the last litter of mice born to Antoinette. She is so disappointed at his birth (he is, after all, tiny with big ears!) she names him Despereaux “for all the sadness, for the many despairs in this place” (DiCamillo, 2003, p. 12). Nice. But Despereaux, even though he knew the source of his name, chooses not to fulfill the future his name holds. He knows he is a mouse, but he doesn’t act like a mouse. He knows he brings despair to his family because he is not what a mouse should be, but that isn’t important to him. Why? Because of love, of couse!
Despereaux falls in love with the Princess Pea. His love for her changes his life. Despereaux forgets who he is supposed to be because he finds a love for that which is greater than he. Hmmm… Sounding familiar to anyone other than me?!
But the story is also about a rat, Chiaroscuro, or Roscuro for short. In The Tale of Despereaux, there is one fact that is made clear from the beginning—rats are hated. They are ugly, dark loving, RATS. Roscuro, however, is very similar to Despereaux. He is a rat, and he doesn’t feel like a rat. He doesn’t want to be a rat. He wants to live in the light. He yearns for it. But, he never feels the life changing love that Despereaux feels. Roscuro’s life is not irrevocably changed by the power of love. (I think you see where this is leading—in a children’s book, no less!)
Roscuro has a mentor, Botticelli. Botticelli teaches Roscuro the way of the Rat. He guides him down the dark maze that is the life of a rat. As Roscuro is about to be on his own, Boticelli tells Roscuro one last thing (DiCamillo, 2003, p. 90):
“I would very much like to torture a prisoner,” said Roscuro. “I would like to make someone suffer.”
“Your time will come,” said Botticelli. “Currently, all the prisoners are spoken for. But another prisoner will arrive sooner or later. How do I know this to be true? Because, Roscuro, fortunately there is evil in the world. And the presence of evils guarantees the existence of prisoners.”
Hmmm…. As I read this I thought, firstly, how glad I was that I had found the love that changes a life for a lifetime. Secondly, how much even the lowest of the low yearn for the light. And thirdly, I thought how much the evil in this world holds us captive. If we don’t know that life changing love, then how can we break the bonds that hold us to the evil world?
I know this is getting long, so I will draw this part to a close… But just think about it, for a moment, how much we are either like Despereaux (born in a world of sadness and despair) but find the love that changes us completely, or like Roscuro, who longs for the light, but has only found scorn, hate and darkness.
So anyhow, go out and buy your very own copy of The Tale of Despereaux—you will not think for long that it is just a children’s book. Books like this aren’t just for kids anymore.
