Top Ten Favorite Characters in Children’s Books

Tuesday, February 19, 2013


This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for my Top Ten Favorite Characters in any Genre. I am going to go with Children’s books because it’s a genre I rarely talk about here.

1) Tock the “watchdog” in The Phantom Tollbooth – He’s such a loyal companion for Milo.

2) Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia – He’s always there for the other characters and he’s willing to lay down his own life to save them.

3) Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web – Wise and kind, she’s the best sort of friend.

4) Matilda (Roald Dahl) – All she wants to do is read. I loved her as a kid.

5) Califer in Howl’s Moving Castle – This cranky fire demon was one of my favorite parts of the book.

6) Jack Pumpkinhead in the Wizard of Oz series – He’s such a strange character, but a fun one.

7) Turtle in The Westing Game – I read this for the first time when I was about Turtle’s age and I just loved her character.  

8) Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle in the series named after her – She teaches kids great lessons, but she never makes them feel bad about themselves.

9) Meg in A Wrinkle in Time – She thinks that she isn’t as good as those around her and it takes her awhile to realize what a powerful force love is.

10) Charlotte in The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – She’s a prim and proper young lady until she takes a trans-Atlantic ship to move to America. Then she becomes a sailor and must fight to survive. It was one of my favorite adventure stories when I was young.

Bonus: Most of the cast, especially Dumbledore, from the Harry Potter series. I don't consider that a Children's series, which is why I left it off.

Image from here. 

15 comments:

Selah said...

Hmm, surprisingly, I haven't read a lot of these. I'll have to Pin it to my "Books for Kids" board for future reference. :)

My all time favorite children's book character is Frances the Badger from the books by Russell Hoban:

http://www.harpercollins.com/searcheng/2PageSearchx.aspx?type=allbooks&search=Russell%20Hoban&mode=search

Frances is extremely imaginative, mischievous, and REAL. She shares a lot of traits with my two children, especially her propensity for making up her own songs.

I agree with you about HP not being a children's series, especially books 4-7. My favorite HP characters are Fred and George. They're just FUN!

Jessica (Peace Love Books) said...

Aww I LOVE Matilda! I was obsessed with that book when I was little. Great list :)

Here's my Top Ten!

Falaise said...

Nice list. I appreciate Matilda but, as my year old daughter currently spends half her life channeling the spirit of Matilda in an overly prim and proper way, I can't say that she's a real "favourite"!

Cecelia said...

What a perfect list! I adore most of these characters, and I love that you included some classic kiddie lit favorites. #2, 5 & 8 are personal happy thoughts. Thanks for sharing!

Sarah - Exploring All Genres said...

These are all such great characters. I loved s many of these books growing up as a kid. I just picked up The Phantom Tollbooth at a used book store so I could re-read it.

Sandy Nawrot said...

I named my first cat Charlotte after Charlotte's Web. That is the level of impact it had on my young life!

Unknown said...

I love Matilda and really enjoyed Charlotte's Web :D

My Top Ten Tuesday post.

Have a lovely week :D

Vikk @ Down the Writers Path said...

Enjoyed your list and your choice of children's books. Some I haven't read but there are a few I'm familiar with.

Kat @ NoPageLeftBehind said...

Fun list! I'm also a big fan of Meg, Calcifer, Matilda, Charlotte, and Aslan!

Also, woohoo for The Westing Game. I remember loving that book as a kiddo but I cannot recall a single bit of the story. Time for a reread!

Nikki Steele said...

This list made my heart wiggle. Love it! Matilda and Charlotte are personal favorites as well, and what about Reepicheep from Narnia? He was like the most exciting little guy character ever!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Selah - I love Frances! I still have quite a few of his books from when I was young.

Jessica - Me too, it was one of my favorite Dahl books.

Falaise - Ha, that would certainly affect the way you see the character!

Cecelia - I love how new kids all over the world are just discovering some of these characters for the first time.

Sarah - I just re-read that one a couple months ago. It's still wonderful.

Sandy - Aww, that is so sweet!

Angelica - I should re-read Charlotte's Web soon. It's been too long.

Kat - I re-read The Westing Game so many times when I was young.

Nikki - Oh Reepicheep! What a great character! How could I forget that brave little guy?

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I like this list! Thank you.

Jenners said...

When I read Narnia as a girl, I had a huge crush on Aslan, which seems kind of weird and wrong but still! I loved him.

Whitney said...

I loved Mrs. Piggle Wiggle when I was little! She is such a great character; kind of like a wacked out Mary Poppins. Great Top Ten.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Jenners - I did too. He was a big protector. I love Aslan.

Whitney - Ha, exactly, such a great character.