The Tale of Despereaux

Both feature small animal heroes and intrusive narrators — White is more restrained, DiCamillo more emotionally direct, but both believe in the power of words to save

Both are fairy tales told by narrators who love fairy tales — Goldman's narrator is satirical, DiCamillo's is earnest, but both argue that the story itself matters

Both use fairy-tale structure to explore courage and the power of storytelling — Lin draws from Chinese tradition, DiCamillo from European, both treat stories as life-saving

DiCamillo's realistic companion to this fairy tale — both are about lonely characters finding connection, one through a dog, one through a story

Another animal protagonist who must be brave enough to act despite being small and powerless — Ivan uses art, Despereaux uses story

Another middle-grade novel that uses fairy-tale structure to explore mortality, love, and the acceptance of imperfection