Animal tales

“Stories are light,” says Gregory the jailer, and with this book that couldn't be more true. The Tale of Despereaux is a book filled with light.

This book of adventure, bravery, light, and forgiveness begins with only a small mouse born in the walls of a castle. Right away Despereaux was not like other mice.

As he grows up his family tries to teach him how to be a mouse, but when he finds a fairy tale book in the library everything changes. He sits at the foot of the king, the mouse council finds out and sends him to the dungeon.

Next, we go back in time to the birth of Chiaroscuro, named by his parents as a joke, he loves the light. Much like Despereaux, he is different. Soon his love of light is gone after his heart is broken by the princess, “I am a rat, there is no light for rats. There will be no light for me.” The other character in this story is Miggery Sow, she lives on a farm with her uncle and the only thing she wants is to be a princess, an impossible dream. But when she is shipped off to the castle everything seems to change. Soon, these three characters come together to form a compelling, heartfelt and dramatic tale, being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup and a spool of thread.

“Light is precious in a world so dark”- Kate Dicamillo

Other books by Kate Dicamillo include, Raymie Nightingale, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising, The Magician's Elephant, and many more. - IM

I absolutely loved A Dogs Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron, and I think that everyone should read it. A Dogs Purpose is about a dog who keeps reliving his life over and over and has different owners. The dog soon starts missing Ethan,one of his first owners, because none of the new owners are like Ethan. Then later on in the book there is one life that is terrible at first, but then it turns out to be AMAZING.

A Dogs Purpose also has a lot of emotions and details.When the dog is reborn it describes what it is thinking. Also the author describes what the humans are feeling when the dog passes away and how all the owners feel about the dog.

I also like A Dogs Purpose because most books are from a human perspective but this book is from a dog’s perspective. It is very amusing because if it were told from a human perspective then it wouldn’t really be fun. You also wouldn’t know that the dog keeps reliving his life over and over. The dog”s perspective is much more fun because then you know what the dog is feeling and thinking. - AL