Project November: Day 3

Day 3: A book you love

There are plenty of books that I "love." I really geek out over the Harry Potter series and have always been in love with the Chronicles of Narnia. And of course, where would I be without my Bible? But today I'm sharing something different. A sweet story that stirs my heart and literally gives me warm fuzzies when I read it.

“Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning.
Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.”

via Amazon.com

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo is a book I read in college for my Methods of Teaching Language Arts class. Honestly I'd never heard of it before then. As soon as I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading. I fell in love with a mouse. The story goes something like this: in a far away kingdom several unrelated characters experience pain and loss, and then learn how to cope with a broken heart. Throughout the course of the story, their lives begin to intertwine and their stories connect.

“There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. Such was the fate of Chiaroscuro. His heart was broken. Picking up the spoon and placing it on his head, speaking of revenge, these things helped him to put his heart together again. But it was, alas, put together wrong.” 

 

“Pea was aware suddenly of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light. She did not like the rat. She would never like the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart.”

A tiny mouse looking for a quest finds honor in being brave and pursuing a crazy love, a princess feels again, a rat seeks a different destiny for himself, a king smiles again, and a young orphaned girl is reunited with her father after years of painful separation. The power of a story, of love, of forgiveness... it's all here. Get yourself to the library and pick up this sweet read, I promise you won't regret it!

 

“Reader, you may ask this queston. In fact, you must ask this question. Is it ridiculous for a very small, sickly, big-eared mouse fall in love with a beautiful princess named Pea? The answer is yes. Of course it's ridiculous. Love is ridiculous. But love is also wonderful. And powerful.”