The Tale of Despereaux, 1.

My favorite character from Kate DiCamillo's, The Tale of Despereaux, is Princess Pea.  I really liked how this she is portrayed as having all of her needs taken care of, yet still capable of being kind and profoundly empathetic.  So often people who are given so much seem to come off as stuck up and disengaged to the feelings of others, but this is not the case in this novel.  Even after the death of her mother, the princess is able to forgive the rat (Roscuro), which is necessary for them to live.  Another example of her kindness is seen in how she treats Miggery Sow.  Princess Pea was kind to Miggery Sow from the start; she waved to her one day long ago, she related spoke to Miggery in a friendly way when she brought her some red thread, and most importantly, even after Miggery had plotted to capture her and drug her to the dungeon, Princess Pea was still kind and empathetic to her when Roscuro was telling Mig that nobody cares what she wants.