For this year's Summer Reading Essay Contest, patrons between the ages of 6 and 18 were invited to write an essay imagining the tale of the Book Dragon. More than 50 essays were received, and we are proud to congratulate the three grand prize winners! Congratulations!

Keep scrolling to read excerpts from these fantastical dragon tales and click through to read the full stories.

~Librairy~, by Gladys Minza

Once upon a time, there was a town called Finsel and it was completely surrounded by a sunny forest. In the forest, there were a lot of different types of animals all living together and getting along. The people from Finsel liked the animals and were all nice to them. They all lived in peace and the forest had enough food for the townspeople and the animals. Some people even started planting gardens and fields inside. There was also a dragon living near the forest. He was a color-changing dragon. Sometimes he would have blue scales, white wings, green eyes, or purple horns. But his most favorite combination was red scales, red wings, yellow eyes, and yellow horns. But changing colors wasn’t the only thing he could do. He could also read, talk, and change his size. His name was Libre and he was liked by all the townspeople and animals. 

Read the full story here!

The Tragedy of Balywinth, by Baldwin Minza

Once upon a time there was a world near perfection. A world with no hunger, thirst, or ill intentions. Thousands of years ago, it was known as Elyserium. But today, we know it simply as the planet Earth. 

All those years ago, the world was protected by a magnificent dragon. The beast had large yellow eyes, golden horns, and ruby-red scales. But the most striking feature was its wings. Each time he opened his large wings, they resembled two large books— ones that would take an eternity to finish. This dragon was known to other beings as Balywinth. The admirable Balywinth was respected by all the lower beings because he helped them lead calm lives. The dragon was responsible for rounding up all the evil, injustice, bitterness, and suffering in the world. All these things he kept from escaping from a rift in time and space. Balywinth felt quite proud and important because he knew that without him, everyone would be in distress. The lower beings, including humans and animals, knew that their protector, the dragon, was to be feared. But Balywinth was a benevolent ruler. 

Read the full story here!

Tale of the Book Dragon, by Tara Lago

From my own experience, I can tell you that it was easier for people to hunt a dragon than read a book. Don’t believe me? Well then…

In Ancient China, I was the son of the dragon Chaofeng. In Medieval Europe, I went on a quest to slain the Satanic beast. I have also listened to Merlin give a dragon lecture to a Welsh king. I have gone across the ocean to the Andes and survived the tremors of Amaru. And throughout this stretch of time, rarely did I see people read a book. Dragons are great distractions, after all. Too bad there wasn’t any popcorn. 

So see? This is proof that I am a credible source. I would have taken photographs, but, alas, humankind lacked such technology then. Despite their pitfalls, they made it up tenfold in their imagination and wonder, which is, with all due respect, sorely absent in the modern world.

Dear reader of the Present, have you no faith? Have you no wonder and fear over the impossible and the mystique? Why are myths labelled myths? How did they become compiled into easy-to-read books when they possess dimensions of intricacies? Why is reality, a narrow-minded mindset, considered the correct view of our world?

Read the full story here!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest—we loved reading ALL of your stories!