great children's book. my writing model

This book is very dark and violent. A huge percentage of the time the characters are being cruel to each other. Many parental figures in the book are particularly horrific such as a father who sells his daughter into slavery, a person who a six-year-old calls Uncle who beats her so regularly that she loses her hearing and her ears are shaped like a cauliflower, a father who serves on a jury and votes to send his son to death in the dungeon. There are very few positive role models for how beings can be kind to each other. Yes it all gets wrapped up in the end in a fairly positive way but violence and cruelty are there norm all the way there.

What do you get when you take a formula of princesses, unrequited love, a rat villain, and twist it for a new spin? You get Despereaux! A book where what you expect might not happen at all, the typical is spun on its head, and a small mouse goes on an adventure not quite like any other. Despereaux is the mouse equivalent of Dumbo, Cinderella, and a lot more. It's charming and a read that all should try at least once. ( )

A story about a misunderstood mouse who falls in love wtih Princess Pea, a real girl, a rat named Roscurio who lives in a dungeon, and an ugly girl name Miggery Sow and how all of their lives intertwine. A great new classic fairy tale. ( )

I've read the book and the movie. I haven't read it in a while but didn't like it. 🤷‍♂️ Kate DiCamillo really is a good author, but I feel like she needs to be writing poetry instead. (and Mercy Watson of course) The descriptions are so long and there's never a lot of danger.
I don't like animals being the main character or even a major plot of the book, so maybe that played a part, but still. ( )