by E. B. White
copyright 2005
Harper & Row, New York
originally published in 1945
ATOS Level: 6.0
Lexile level: 920
Interest level: Grades 4-8
Contemporary Title: The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
copyright 2003
Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA
ATOS Level: 4.7
Lexile level: 670
Interest level: Grades 4-8
Description
The mice in the title roles of these middle grade novels have a lot in common, despite their very different circumstances. Stuart and Despereaux are plucky, charming and in love with creatures beyond their reach. Surprises to their families, though for different reasons, they both have remarkable talents. Stuart seems to have an easier time of it, as none of the humans he encounters is more than a little surprised at a nattily dressed mouse who talks, sails and drives. Despereaux, on the other hand, gets banished to the rat-infested dungeon for not behaving as a mouse should in a castle in the middle ages. Stuart's adventures start out very home-bound (retrieving jewelry from a sink drain, for example) but he soon sets out on his own to explore the world, while heading north, hopefully in pursuit of Margalo, the bird he loves. Despereaux must find his way out of the dungeon in time to save the Princess, the girl he loves. The Tale of Despereaux is more complex with more storylines and characters but is thoroughly enjoyable as a modern fairy tale set in a long ago time. The simpler story of Stuart Little, a mouse who acts so human, may be harder to appreciate partly because 1940's New York City seems so foreign to the modern, and rural, reader. But E. B. White's writing still holds its charms, as he winks at the reader with lines like, "Before he was many days old he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too - wearing a gray hat and carrying a small cane."
Qualitative Analysis
Structure
- Short chapters and illustrations in both books may entice younger readers but put off older readers who may think "these are for little kids". Despereaux's chapters are grouped into four books, which may be a new structure for some. The black line illustrations in Stuart Little may help the reader understand the 1940's era NYC setting, while the etching-like drawings in Despereaux help evoke the Middle Ages.
Language Demands
- There are many challenging words in Stuart Little; Lexile.com identifies challenging words in the text which teachers may want to introduce prior to reading. While the Lexile and ATOS levels of Despereaux are lower than those of Stuart Little, it has a more complex chronology with chapters devoted to multiple characters, recounting their pasts, leaving Despereaux out of the tale for many pages.
Knowledge Demands
- The settings - medieval Europe (Despereaux) and 1940's Manhattan (Stuart Little) - may require pre-teaching so that students' enjoyment of the stories is unhindered by unfamiliar time periods and locales.
Levels of Meaning
- Both books may be understood on several levels, from basic plots to the fantastical elements of anthropomorphic mice to themes of family, danger and love.
Text Complexity
Text complexity is rated between independent and teacher-led for both books; for Stuart Little because of the challenging vocabulary; for The Tale of Despereaux because of the multitude of characters, storylines and chronology. A student able to read Despereaux independently will likely be able to also read Stuart Little independently, with support for the vocabulary and some scenes (like the sailing adventure, which may be hard for any non-sailing reader to fully understand).
Curriculum Connections (Literature)
There are so many jumping off points in comparing these two books that the hardest part will be deciding how to do the paired readings. Despereaux almost begs to be a read-aloud (just change "reader" to "listener" in passages like, "Again, reader, we must go backward before we can go forward." Stuart Little can then be read independently. Although Stuart Little has a higher Lexile level, the slim volume is broken up into short chapters, and could be read independently or in peer-led groups with vocabulary support. Both books could be assigned, but to different groups of students according to their reading levels, with students partnering up afterwards for the activities. At the upper middle-school level, these two titles could be one of the choices in a classic/contemporary pairing assignment.
With the stories under their belts, students could be led in literature circles to discuss the ways that Despereaux and Stuart are alike and different, including how their births were greeted by their families and the qualities that make them more human-like than mouse-like. The two characters could be compared with Venn diagrams. Students could imagine a world - and create a Google Map tour - where Stuart goes back in time to visit Despereaux or Despereaux visits Stuart in Central Park. Students could create missing person posters or Valentine's Day cards for Margalo or Princess Pea. They could also imagine, using images and voice recording (iMovie or VoiceThread, for example) how Stuart and Despereaux would have fared in their adventures had they been other animals and not mice. Rats and cats suffer from negative stereotypes in both books, and in addition to an analysis of whether they are unfairly portrayed, students could write or record another side of the story from a rat's or cat's perspective. Finally, both books have been made into movies; students could write movie reviews, analyzing each for how well they translated the book onto the big screen.
Related Resources
Central Park, NYC - Things to see and do (site includes interactive map of the park)
http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/
Stuart Little story-boarding activities
http://www.storyboardthat.com/teacher-guide/stuart-little-by-e-b--white
Meet the Author: E. B. White
http://eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/white.html
Tale of Despereaux - Fact or fiction lesson plan from read•write•think
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/tale-despereaux-fact-fiction-30561.html?tab=1#tabs
Tale of Despereaux - Literature circle discussion guide from Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/tale-despereaux-discussion-guide
Kate DiCamillo official website
http://www.katedicamillo.com/
What was life really like in the Middle Ages?
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/feudal.html
Kids' Castle - Explore a castle online
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/castle/view.html
Standards (examples for Grade 7)
English Language Arts > Reading: Literature
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).
DiCamillo and White have both written tales which appeal to all readers, including adults. Whether you use them as a classic/contemporary pairing or separately in literature units, these are books which should continue to be recommended to and read by children.
