1.	Unlike his brothers and sisters, Despereaux is able to find the beauty in books and music. How would your life be different if you couldn’t read or listen to music? What do these creative outlets provide for you? What do you think life would be like without them?
2.	It is Despereaux’s family that allows him to be led to the dungeon based on the decision of the council. What would you do if you were in the same situation? Would you turn your back on a family member who was different or unusual in some way? Why or why not? What makes you different from the other members of your family? How would you respond if your family turned their back on you?
3.	As Despereaux is being led to the dungeon, the threadmaster tells him to be brave. What does it mean to be brave? Do you think you could be brave in a similar situation?
4.	Do you think it is easy to love someone or, like the King discovers after his wife dies, is loving someone a difficult thing? Why or why not? Name one person you love. Is it easy to love them or hard to love them?
5.	“Every action, reader, no matter how small, has consequences.” (117) What does this statement mean to you? Describe one instance where you did something that has a consequence. Was it something you expected to result from your action? Why or why not? Was the result good or bad?
6.	How would you respond to the following . . . “Reader, do you think that it is a terrible thing to hope when there is really no reason to hope at all? Or is it something that you might just as well do, since in the end, it really makes no difference to anyone but you?” (143-144)
7.	What is a quest? In your life have you ever experienced something like a quest? What was this experience and how did it end? Did anyone help you along the way or give you something (like the thread that the threadmaster gives Despereaux) that made the quest a bit easier? (Think of it as a task that you have to undertake along whose end will help someone else.)
8.	What do you think the significance of the light and dark imagery is in the book? Roscuro is obsessed with light, the princess and the court are upstairs in the light, the dungeon where Gregory and the rats live is dark, and even in the end, DiCamillo writes that she hopes we, as readers, have found some light here. Do you think, having finished this book, that you have found some light in this book? What does it mean to find light in a book?