Ramona Quimby Age 8

Mr. Quimby gifts Ramona and Beezus an eraser to mark the significance of their first day of school and to provide an important life lesson. Mr. Quimby wants his daughters to remember that everyone makes mistakes. Ramona and her father both share a love of drawing, and she “[…] especially treasured the new eraser, smooth, pearly pink, smelling softly of rubber, and just right for erasing pencil lines” (8). Danny makes a mistake in taking Ramona’s eraser, but when he returns it, he creates an opportunity to become friends with Ramona instead of enemies. His returning it marks the beginning of their connection.

Mistakes and misunderstandings are a motif in the novel. Ramona regretfully smashes a raw egg on her head, and Mrs. Whaley unknowingly hurts her feelings. Ramona blames her mother for the egg debacle and regrets her misplaced anger, and Beezus rudely refuses dinner and regrets her mistake. At the end of the novel, Ramona reflects on her choices as well as those of others; she determines that just because she sometimes makes mistakes, that doesn’t mean she is a bad person. She determines to work harder at being kind, especially to Willa Jean.