Comparison
Shiloh vs The Tale of Despereaux
How Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 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.
Shiloh
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Lexile
- 890L
- Grades
- 3–6
- Published
- 1991
- Pages
- 160
- Genre
- Realistic 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
- 220L (Shiloh: 890L · The Tale of Despereaux: 670L)
- Grade-range overlap
- Grades 3–6
- Year-of-publication gap
- 12 years (1991 vs 2003)
- Page-count gap
- 110 pages (160 vs 270)
- Shared curricula
- 63 of 137
- Shared themes
- 1 of 9
Reading-level difference
The 220-point Lexile gap puts Shiloh roughly a meaningful step harder than The Tale of Despereaux. 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 63 shared curriculum frameworks:
Themes
Shared
courage
Only Shiloh
animal welfare · morality · family · rural life
Only The Tale of Despereaux
forgiveness · light vs dark · fairy-tale form · underdog narrative
Get these books
Shiloh
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
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.