Comparison
Holes vs The Tale of Despereaux
How Holes by Louis Sachar and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo compare on reading level, grade placement, curriculum overlap, and shared themes — derived from primary-source citations on each book’s ReadingList page.
Holes
Louis Sachar
- Lexile
- 660L
- Grades
- 4–7
- Published
- 1998
- Pages
- 233
- Genre
- Middle Grade Fiction
The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo
- Lexile
- 670L
- Grades
- 3–6
- Published
- 2003
- Pages
- 270
- Genre
- Middle Grade Fantasy
At a glance
- Lexile differential
- 10L (Holes: 660L · The Tale of Despereaux: 670L)
- Grade-range overlap
- Grades 4–6
- Year-of-publication gap
- 5 years (1998 vs 2003)
- Page-count gap
- 37 pages (233 vs 270)
- Shared curricula
- 66 of 125
- Shared themes
- 0 of 10
Reading-level difference
The 10-point Lexile gap puts The Tale of Despereaux roughly in the same reading-difficulty tier as Holes. Lexile differences below 50L typically reflect equivalent decoding load (sentence length + word frequency); differences above 200L cross developmental reading-band boundaries. More on how Lexile measures work →
Curriculum overlap
Both books appear in 66 shared curriculum frameworks:
Themes
Only Holes
fate vs choice · friendship · justice · family legacy · racial history
Only The Tale of Despereaux
courage · forgiveness · light vs dark · fairy-tale form · underdog narrative
Get these books
Holes
Louis Sachar
Where to find this book
Audible: new members only · many assigned titles are included · a free trial for eligible new members starts listening right away, with no wait for delivery.
Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook
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The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo
Where to find this book
Audible: new members only · many assigned titles are included · a free trial for eligible new members starts listening right away, with no wait for delivery.
Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook
As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you. Pricing, Prime, and trial terms shown on Amazon.