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Garden Heights

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The Tale of Despereaux — Kate DiCamillo

Garden Heights · Independent Novel Study

The Tale of Despereaux

a novel by Kate DiCamillo

Despereaux Tilling — a mouse too small, ears too big, and heart too brave for the rules of mice — falls in love with a princess and is condemned to the dungeon for it. Kate DiCamillo braids his tale with a light-starved rat named Chiaroscuro and a serving girl who dreams of a crown, until all three meet in the dark below the castle. Winner of the 2004 Newbery Medal. These 8 Part workbooks cover the full novel (52 chapters + Coda, honoring its four internal Books), each with vocabulary, comprehension, literary analysis, Think Deeper reasoning, an SAT®/TOEFL®-style test, and writing, all built on real-world CLIL background.

Level 3Standalone · Newbery MedalInteractive & auto-gradedCLIL-based

Library › The Tale of Despereaux

Level 3 · Fluent ReadersUS Grades 4–5Lexile 670LAR 3.3–5.6

📖 Get the right book: our workbooks follow the Candlewick Press (paperback) edition — ISBN 9780763680893. All recommended editions →

Subject Personalities

The real-world subjects this novel study leans into — the depth behind every Knowledge Bank and reading passage.

PRIMARY LENS

🏯 The Castle World

Dungeons, banquets, below-stairs servants, needle & thread — the real castle behind the tale.

SUPPORTING

💓 Forgiveness & the Heart

Perfidy and pardon, courage and pity — mercy as the story’s strongest weapon.

SUPPORTING

🎨 Light, Art & Story

Chiaroscuro in painting, soup as comfort, and the storyteller’s creed: stories are light.

8-Part Novel Study

Choose a Part

Progress

Part 1 · Chapters 1–8 · Book I

A Mouse Is Born • The Music • The Princess Pea

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 2 · Chapters 9–15 · Book I

The Mouse Council • The Red Thread • Gregory the Jailer

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 3 · Chapters 16–23 · Book II

Chiaroscuro • The Chandelier • The Queen’s Soup

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 4 · Chapters 24–33 · Book III

Gor! • The Tale of Miggery Sow • The Wish

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 5 · Chapters 34–40 · Book IV

The Silky Bargain • The Lost Tail • Gregory’s Rope

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 6 · Chapters 41–45 · Book IV

The Abduction • Down the Stairs • Face to Face

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 7 · Chapters 46–50 · Book IV

Forgiving Lester • Needle & Thread • Cook’s Soup

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized Test

Part 8 · Chapters 51–52 & Coda · Final

Botticelli • The Aroma • Mercy & Soup for All

VocabularyComprehensionLiterary ElementsThink DeeperStandardized TestStandardized TestReport Card

📄 Printable Teacher & Student PDFs — see all Workbook PDFs →