They Read, They Won!

Congratulations to the winners of our Raising Readers online essay contest on Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux. These are their winning essays.

Anna Paulson, 13, St. Paul, MN
I like the ending of The Tale of Despereaux because I think it's happy, but in unexpected ways. The queen stayed dead, Roscuro's heart never did mend back quite perfectly, Miggery never did become a real princess, and Despereaux's family never did say they were sorry for what they had done to Despereaux, but each one of them found what they were looking for.

The king and the princess will always miss the Queen, but they chose to move on, to let go of her death, and instead to be happy. Roscuro, though his heart did not mend quite perfectly, still chose to be happy. Miggery did not become a princess, but she found her father again, and so was treated like one for the rest of her days, and was happy. And Despereaux, though he never got his rightful apologies from his family and the Mouse Council, got his wish: to be friends with the princess. He, too, was happy.

I learned that dreams don't always turn out as we expect them to, but we can still make the most of how they do turn out. I also learned that revenge will do nothing to heal a broken heart but re-mend it crookedly. Someday I might become an author. And if I do, I want to end my books just the way Kate DiCamillo does, with meaning, but with happiness, too.

Brady Geary, 10, New Brighton, MN
In The Tale of Despereaux the word "light" means goodness. In the basement Gregory asks Despereaux to tell him a story because "stories are light.” This means stories create goodness or have the chiaroscuro effect, meaning they have light and darkness, good and bad, mixed together. Whether the stories are written in books, acted in movies and plays, sung in songs, or told around the campfire, they will, rather faintly or brighter than the sun, illuminate the world.

Most stories are light, as Gregory says. Most shed goodness, even in the darkest places. This book is one of those books. It teaches a lesson, how to keep light in a dark world. But not even this book is entirely light. Some books are chiaroscuro, like Miggery Sow, who is a good person, but is led by the bad intentions of Roscuro and her wanting to be a "Princess Pea.” The king is a good king, but he was led by his grief to hate soup and rats. He gets so grief stricken that he outlaws both.

The author, Kate DiCamillo, refers to light in a variety of ways, along with stories. The princess has a dream that her deceased mother had come and fed her some soup so that Pea would not forget. In that dream, soup was light. Roscuro sees light and wants to find more. Despereaux was born with his eyes open so he could see light. Despereaux's destiny could have been told right then; he would brave darkness for light! This book is a very interesting and moving book. It teaches a great moral about keeping light in a dark world. At the end Miggery learns to be a good friend and Despereaux forgives his father for executing him. Everyone ends up with a lot of light!

Erin Donohue, 13, New Brighton, MN
I think that Miggery Sow's dream of being a princess was most fascinating to me. I enjoyed her imagination overcoming her desperate longing of being in a better place than she was. She was a poor girl who was sold by her father to a mean man. She had hopeful dreams. Despereaux's dream of rescuing and marrying the Princess Pea was my second favorite dream. His big dreams made up for his being minuscule. He was brave for fighting Roscuro to save the princess.

Roscuro's wish was to have revenge on the princess for giving him a dirty look. Roscuro's life is kind of like the Phantom's in The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom lures Christine into his dungeon and gives her two choices: to marry him and release Raoul (her love) or to set her free and kill Raoul. He eventually sees his wrongdoing, and her pain, and decides to free them both. I see Roscuro's decision to release the Princess similar to the Phantom's in that he came to his senses after the princess was nice to him. I find it interesting that all the dreams in the story point in the direction of the Princess Pea. My favorite was Miggery Sow's dream to be a princess because I feel I can relate to her wish. When I was little I always wanted to be a princess, too.