The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Beautiful story. Captivating illustrations. I've just read the most charming book by Kate DiCamillo, with illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline, which was published in 2006 and became a bestseller. This was serendipity of the best kind; I had no intention of reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, but it fell into my hands after having been returned to my daughter, and once I picked it up and started it, I had no choice but to continue. Not just a book for children, DiCamillo presents profound truths in a simple, beautiful, and imaginative way. Written from the point of view of Edward Tulane, a vain and haughty china rabbit, this is a story that alternately breaks and then warms your heart, as Edward embarks on the worst and best of adventures after he's separated from his owner, a little girl named Abilene who loves him very much. He does not love her back, nor does he care for anyone but himself. Soon the richly dressed rabbit's fate changes--was it due to Pellegrina's story about the princess? Stripped of his fine clothing, even made to wear frilly dresses, this rabbit is in for a rude awakening. We travel with Edward on a journey both physical and emotional--from the bottom of the sea to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage pile to the knee of a hobo, from the bedside of an ill child to the streets of Memphis--and experience his separation, hardship, uncertainty, and metamorphosis. Whether shared with a child, or enjoyed privately, this is a book to be read and reread, and is destined to become a favorite.

The Tale of Despereaux

The destruction was irresistible. When I was a young child, one of my favorite Beatrix Potter stories was The Tale of Two Bad Mice. For some reason, I loved the fact that these two innocent looking mice stayed in a doll's-house and wrecked the lovely furnishings and fake, porcelain food with glee (they do make some amends, however). The detailed watercolor illustrations are worth lingering over, and I read this book as often as possible. There is something about children and stories about mice, even today. Maybe it's because children can relate to mice--they are both tiny and usually a bit timid.


If you have children, or even if you don't but simply enjoy children's literature, I recommend The Tale of Desperaux, a 2004 Newbery Medal winner by Kate DiCamillo, a charming, off-beat book, which was recently released as an animated film, starring Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Signourney Weaver, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, and others.

Here's the basic story of The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread. Despereaux Trilling, a misfit mouse, is born with courage, which a mouse should never possess. Despereaux can also read, which further sets him apart and introduces him to other worlds and great ideas. Because he's so different from the other mice, he's banished from Mouseworld, and the unthinkable happens--Despereaux is befriended by a rat, Roscuro, who's intrigued by Despereaux's stories of the faraway kingdom of Dor, where a king grieves for his late queen, and a princess feels lonely. In fact, all the villagers are suffering, in need of both rain and soup. Will this little mouse with the big ears be able to save the kingdom of Dor?

It is an enchanting book, and although the movie does not follow the book too closely, the movie is also quite entertaining. I really don't expect movies to follow the books they're based on all that closely, although some do. Stephen King sums it up well when he says that to compare a book with a movie is like comparing an apple with an orange. They are different fruits. That being said, though, I do wonder what authors think when their books are made into movies--hopefully, they are satisfied with how their books are translated to the silver screen.


Happy New Year to all of my readers!