what are yours?
I’ve just written about my five favourite picture book characters for The Telegraph.
You can read my choices here.
But gosh I could have chosen five hundred and still had the agony of leaving lots of lovelies out.
It occurs to me that like Ant and Bee (a bit of a marmite choice – love it or hate it?) many of the best characters have a sidekick: Piglet has Pooh, Alfie has Annie Rose, Claude has Sir Bobblysock.
SO – who would you like to add to the list? A singleton, or perhaps a pair? Please do call by and share – I’d love to see!
Impossible tasks before elevenses you like to set…
1. Mary Plain( obviously); a bear after my own heart.
2. Arabella and Mortimer; the ultimate double act.
3. MORE Aiken I think; Dido Twite, who can provide sure and certain advice through all life’s dilemmas.
4. Mr Toad, to be kept contained most of the time, but everyone needs an inner TOOT TOOT for high days and holidays.
5. Well I couldn’t NOT have The Little Wooden Horse could I? Unassuming heroism and steadfastness of the highest order.
Lovely choices, Polly! By that I mean of course that we like the same things. Joan Aiken is a masterful creator of character, and I like to think you named your blog The Little Wooden Horse for a good reason. And a white rosette with your name on it for choosing Mary Plain!
I would add the Barabapapas to the list, something about the surreal premise of the books appealed. I was also a fan of Orlando the Cat & I read a lot of Topsy and Tim
Thank you very much Damyanti for adding your top choices – and for introducing me to the Barabapapas – a very good find!
Funnily enough it was the exquisite artwork in Orlando that first made me think I wanted to do this job. Not to insult any other illustrators living under the same roof at the time.
Traction man is a new favourite (with his up-staging, ‘Arfing’ sidekick Scrubbing Brush).
Hello Kate, thanks so much for popping by. Yes, I have that on my bookshelf (just for me, that is!) and it’s absolutely brilliant.
Good to add a character who’s very much of the moment too – I tend to go straight back to my own childhood for my choices in a rush of nostalgia!
Gosh that is hard! 5 picture book characters? Will put down the first five which come to mind, on the basis my brain must store them under Important.
1. we are currently loving Lollipop and Grandpa for their close relationship and amazing imaginations
2. Peter Rabbit for adventurousness and getting into scrapes like a certain other little boy I know
3. Oliver Jeffers’ boy and penguin (Lost & Found, Up & Down) for true, quiet friendship
4. Charlie & Lola for the brilliant big brother/little sister dynamic
5. the Very Worried Sparrow – a classic from my childhood
Thank you so much Helen for putting your brain to such good use! I love all your choices.
Siblings should be a category all of their own – Charlie and Lola and Aflie and Annie Rose being right up there at the top.
I don’t know the Very Worried Sparrow, but it’s an anxious-making title: I hope it turns out well for him in the end?
Uncle by J P Martin – a rather pompous and somewhat patronising millionaire elephant, his faithful retainer the Old Monkey and the best villains ever – the Badfort Crowd. And a lion who can make himself heavier by thinking about it. Tremendous illustrations by Q Blake too.
Hello Jane, so lovely that you called round – and thank you for the Ant and Bee love-in yesterday, I enjoyed it so much!
I’m ashamed to say that I have never seen Uncle, though I know that Polly is a fan too, and now it’s a Kickstarter success –
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/927369773/the-complete-uncle-by-jp-martin-and-quentin-blake
– it can be a favourite for many more people too.
wow, VERY excited to read about the Uncle reprints – didn’t know all that was going on…
So hard to name just five but we definitely love the moomins (but if you gave us a nasty chinese burn and asked us to name one particular moomins character it would have to be the Snork Maiden.
Also love:
Hilda (from the fabulous Luke Pearson comics)
Doctor Dog
Stig (of the Dump)
Harry (the white dog with black spots who loves everything, except…)
Great choices in the article Clara (Hooray also for Clarice Bean!)
Thank you so much for calling by – I really hoped you would! I’d never give you a chinese burn, but the Snork Maiden is my favourite Moomin too…
And Stig – yes, another terrific choice!
Um… There are far too many to choose from. But from picture books my girls love too:
Wilbur. And Winnie of course, but especially Wilbur.
Hugless Douglas.
A girl called Pearl, who’s feeling rather grumpy…
Harry (with or without his dinosaurs.)
Kes Gray & Nick Sharratt’s Daisy.
Can I have Dogger too? He’s got lots of character 🙂
Plus a special mention for Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web, the first character I cried over.
Oh, and Meg and Mog; Mog (the forgetful cat); The Very Hungry Caterpillar… I’ll stop now!
P.S. We love Ant and Bee too. And Frog and Toad. And… 😉
Hello Anne-Marie, what a marvellous list! And THANK YOU for adding Pearl (a rather forceful character – but we know all about those in real life don’t we?), and a certain dog with one ear up and one ear down… and as for Charlotte, she should have a special prize all of her own.