Despereaux's Quest
For 100 points: What item does Despereaux carry with him into the dungeon for protection?
Answer: A sewing needle.
For 100 points: What frightens Despereaux as he descends into the dungeon?
Answer: The darkness, the smell of rats, and the memory of suffering.
For 100 points: What does Cook do when she discovers Despereaux in the kitchen?
Answer: She almost catches him but eventually gives him soup.
For 100 points: What word does Hovis use to describe Despereaux’s journey?
Answer: A “quest.”
For 100 points: What gives Despereaux courage when he feels despair?
Answer: His love for the princess.
For 200 points: Who gives Despereaux the needle and thread before he begins his quest?
Answer: Hovis, the threadmaster
For 200 points: Who finds the red thread that Despereaux is pushing?
Answer: Botticelli Remorso, the rat.
For 200 points: Why does Miggery Sow believe she will be a princess?
Answer: Because she once saw the royal family and dreamed of switching places with the princess.
For 200 points: What does the narrator compare the dungeon’s twisting halls to?
Answer: A maze.
For 200 points: How does soup symbolize hope in the story?
Answer: It reminds characters of comfort, warmth, and goodness, even in dark times.
For 300 points: Why does Despereaux remind himself that he is on a “quest”?
Answer: To give himself courage and strength in the darkness.
For 300 points: What does Botticelli say red thread means to a rat?
Answer: It means “mouse blood.”
For 300 points: How does Mig feel when she wears the princess’s crown?
Answer: Foolish and ridiculous, because it hurts her ears and does not make her look like a princess.
For 300 points: What does Roscuro say he truly wanted when he kidnapped the princess?
Answer: Some light and beauty in his life.
For 300 points: What lesson does Miggery Sow finally realize in the dungeon?
Answer: That no matter what she wears, she will never truly be a princess.
For 400 points: What makes Despereaux feel braver and stronger as he pushes the spool of thread?
Answer: The smell of soup.
For 400 points: How does Botticelli try to manipulate Despereaux?
Answer: He pretends to be friendly and offers to guide him while really planning to use him for amusement.
For 400 points: What choice does Princess Pea make when facing Roscuro?
Answer: She offers him soup instead of punishment, showing mercy.
For 400 points: What phrase does Despereaux repeat to himself when he feels he cannot go back?
Answer: “No choice, no choice, no choice.”
For 400 points: What theme is shown when the princess forgives Roscuro?
Answer: The power of mercy
For 500 points: How does Despereaux keep himself strong in the dungeon?
Answer: He tells himself a story about a brave mouse, a princess, and a quest to give himself courage.
For 500 points: What does Roscuro smell that makes him break down in tears, and why?
Answer: The smell of soup, which reminds him of light, beauty, and things he can never have as a rat.
For 500 points: Why does Despereaux refuse to kill Roscuro with the needle?
Answer: Because Princess Pea tells him not to, and he chooses mercy instead of violence.
For 500 points: What does the narrator say about stories at the end of the book?
Answer: “Stories are light.”
For 500 points: Why does the author remind readers at the end that “stories are light”?
Answer: To show that stories can guide us, give us hope, and help us through darkness.