Books like The Tale of Despereaux
Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse with enormous ears who loves music, stories and a human princess named Pea, is banished to the castle dungeon for breaking the rules, and becomes the unlikely hero of a tale involving a vengeful rat and a servant girl.
Explore books like this on the map12 books for readers of The Tale of Despereaux
Tress of the Emerald Sea
Tress, a practical girl who collects cups from sailors on a rock in an ocean of deadly spores, sets out to rescue the young man she loves from the Sorceress, in a story told by a wry, meddling narrator.
Redwall
The peaceful mice of Redwall Abbey are threatened by Cluny the Scourge, a one-eyed rat, and his horde, and a clumsy young novice, Matthias, sets out to find the lost sword of the abbey's hero, Martin the Warrior.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby in the forest for the witch they fear, and Xan, the kindly witch who actually rescues the babies, accidentally feeds one of them moonlight and fills her with magic.
Ella Enchanted
Ella of Frell was given the gift of obedience by a foolish fairy at birth, so she must do whatever anyone tells her, and after her mother dies she sets out to break the curse, in a witty retelling of Cinderella.
Stardust
In Victorian England, young Tristran Thorn promises to bring the girl he loves a fallen star, and crosses the wall from his village into the land of Faerie, where the star turns out to be a young woman.
Howl's Moving Castle
A young hatmaker cursed by a witch to be an old woman takes shelter in the walking castle of a vain young wizard whose demon is burning through a contract with his heart.
The Last Unicorn
A unicorn who has lived alone in her lilac wood since the world was young hears that she may be the last of her kind, and leaves to find out what happened to the others.
The Book of Three
Taran, an assistant pig-keeper in the land of Prydain who dreams of being a hero, chases after the oracular pig Hen Wen when she runs away, and is swept into a war against the Horned King.
Spindle's End
Cursed at her name-day by a wicked fairy, the infant princess is spirited away to a remote village by a young fairy, Katriona, who raises her as an ordinary girl called Rosie, who can talk to animals.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Twelve-year-old September, bored in Omaha, is carried off to Fairyland by the Green Wind and a Leopard, and soon finds herself on a quest against the tyrannical Marquess, with a library-loving dragon for company.
Once Upon a Broken Heart
When the boy she loves is about to marry her stepsister, Evangeline Fox strikes a bargain with Jacks, the immortal Prince of Hearts, and must pay for his help with three kisses of his choosing, in a kingdom where fairy tales hold dangerous power.
Threadbare
A teddy bear made by a magical toymaker wakes up in a world of game-like levels and classes, and sets out to protect the little girl who owns him.