The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
★ Top 10 book of 2003 · #8 on Best Books of 2003
The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess he loves, a servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.
Best for: Children who like fairy-tale adventures with unlikely heroes.
The Tale of Despereaux is #8 on BookWard's Best Books of 2003, out of 52 2003 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Tale of Despereaux is about
Despereaux Tilling is a very small, sickly mouse who was born with his eyes open and would rather read than do almost anything else. When he speaks to Princess Pea, which mice are strictly forbidden to do, the mouse council sends him down to the dungeon. His rescue there comes from an unexpected place: a jailer who is won over by a nice story.
The tale then widens to follow others in the castle. There is Roscuro, a rat who loves the light and carries a grudge after a disaster involving the queen's soup, and Mig, a servant girl who longs to be a princess. Their wants and wounds begin to cross paths with the mouse's.
The Tale of Despereaux on the Best Books of 2003
The Tale of Despereaux came out in 2003. Of the 52 books first published in 2003 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #8 on our Best Books of 2003 list.
Why it made the list: 554 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (54 ratings); 33 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2003 list
- The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown, #6
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon, #7
- The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger, #9
- How to Train Your Dragon Cressida Cowell, #10
See all Best Books of 2003 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2002 Best Books of 2004.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 436 want to read it, 33 are reading it now and 85 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.1 out of 5 from 54 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 83 | 55% |
| Reader love | 54 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 81 | 20% |
Questions about The Tale of Despereaux
When was The Tale of Despereaux published?
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo was first published in 2003.
Was The Tale of Despereaux one of the best books of 2003?
The Tale of Despereaux is #8 on BookWard's Best Books of 2003, out of 52 2003 books that cleared our data bar. 554 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (54 ratings); 33 are reading it right now.
Why is The Tale of Despereaux on the Best Books of 2003 list?
554 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (54 ratings); 33 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2003
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling, #1
- Into the Wild Erin Hunter, #2
- The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini, #3
- Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Mo Willems, #4
- A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson, #5
- The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown, #6
See the full Best Books of 2003, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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