"Forgivness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul-stirring as it is delicious."

Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the author of BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, a Newbery Honor book, and THE TIGER RISING, which was a National Book Award Finalist. Kate DiCamillo says, "A few years ago, my best friend's son asked me if I would write a story for him. 'Well, ' I said, 'I don't normally write stories on command.' 'But this is a story that I know you would want to tell, ' he said. 'It's about an unlikely hero. He has exceptionally large ears.' 'What happens to this hero?' I asked. 'I don't know, ' he said. 'That's why I want you to write it down, so we can find out.' Well, Luke Bailey, three years later, here is the story of what happened to your exceptionally large-eared, unlikely hero." Timothy Basil Ering is the author and illustrator of THE STORY OF FROG BELLY RAT BONE, and he also created the cover image and interior black-and-white drawings for 33 SNOWFISH by Adam Rapp. Of his inspiration for the illustrations in The TALE OF DESPEREAUX, he says, "My mother may have been a mouse in her past life, as I watched her save and help so many mice in our house while I was growing up. The illustrations I've done of Despereaux Tilling are, in a way, my tribute to her." Timothy Basil Ering's artwork has appeared in books, magazines, theater sets, private murals, and fine art galleries. "From the Hardcover edition."