Despereaux Theme

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo is a about a nonconformist small mouse named Despereaux who falls in love with a Princess in a French Castle during medieval times, and all of his problems stem from him being different from other mice, in the castle. This novel is for reader 9-12 and is a fantasy. This allows the author to have talking rodents that could communicate with humans. It allows the author to explore the theme of light and darkness and what these themes mean to each character.
This book was very interesting to me because I had never read a book like it, where the author repeatedly breaks the fourth wall. And it is not in a condescending manner, or to belittle the reader, but to give the reader information, to direct their