The Tale of Despereaux

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What are the pros and cons of nonconformity? What might be the social consequences of those who refuse to conform?

Teaching Suggestion: Despereaux, the novel’s protagonist, is unable to conform to his mouse community because of his unusual behavior and interests. He is sentenced to the dungeon by the Mouse Council for refusing to apologize for breaking the rules of the mouse community. Consider discussing the positives and negatives of conformity and allowing students to speculate about the consequences of nonconformists before exploring the resources. 

• This 5-minute video explores conformity and nonconformity in society.
• This article describes the psychological effects of nonconformity.

Short Activity

Use prior knowledge and experience to create a poster with descriptions of the perfect hero. Use these guiding questions to help in your design.

• What would the perfect hero look like?
• What behaviors might the perfect hero have?
• What kind of character flaws could a hero possess?
• Should a hero have physical strength?
• What might be a hero’s thoughts on morality?

Teaching Suggestion: Despereaux is an unlikely hero. He is smaller than his peers, has unusually large ears, and is interested in humans. These qualities isolate him from the mouse community who eventually condemn him to death. Nevertheless, Despereaux does become a hero by rescuing Princess Pea from the evil rat community. Consider discussing the qualities of a hero both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Students may find it beneficial to have a sample poster to look at with a drawing depicting the hero and the characteristics the hero should possess surrounding the drawing. It may be helpful for students to brainstorm ideas prior to creating their poster. Consider referring to the posters as the novel progresses to assess whether students have changed their thinking on what defines a hero.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Have you ever had a goal or dream that others might find ridiculous? What was your dream? What were you willing to overcome to achieve it?

Teaching Suggestion: Despereaux, though a mouse, has a romantic fascination with Princess Pea. This romantic attraction becomes the driving force behind his decision to battle the rats in the dungeon to rescue her. Consider discussing impossible goals and dreams and how they might influence actions. These could be very personal questions for some students, so it might be best to allow students to respond independently in a journal, and then, when discussing it, to have smaller group discussions or pair-share.