5 Most Beloved Characters in Children's Literature

Welcome to the 4th week of the Summer Stash blog hop!

Again, thank you to Minute Mommy for hosting this great idea.

Amazon is probably quite happy with me right now after all the books I have ordered because of this blog hop- my bank account and fiance might not be quite as happy. Oh well! It's a teacher thing.

This week is all about beloved characters in children's books. It makes me nostalgic to think about this. I'm brought back to my elementary days thinking about Baby-Sitters Club books. Anybody remember those? Those were the shiz.

I felt SO grown up when I started reading these!

Fast forward 15 or so years, (maybe more, who's counting?) and I'm now a reading specialist, working with students who struggle with reading, trying to get them to love reading like I did as a kid and as an adult.

How true, right?

Without any further ado, here are my top 5 most beloved characters in children's literature.

Skippyjon Jones by Judith Byron Schachner

I'm a huge animal lover. Pretty much anything to do with animals is a sure win for me. (FYI: You're going to see this is pretty much true for the rest of this post.) Who can resist a cat who thinks he's a leetle Chihuahua? He has a group of imaginary Chihuahua friends named Los Chimichangos. (I can't stand the cuteness!)

This is a great book for read-alouds if you're up to getting your Spanish accent on. The kids love when I do it (shaking my head... what we don't do for our kiddos, huh?)

Here's a link to the author's website. There are lots of cute extras that you can use for free with the books.

Pigeon by Mo Willems

Ok, first off, can I just say how much I ADORE Mo Willems? Especially for this..

Everybody now... "Awwwwww"

This past year a lot of my kiddos became OBSESSED with the pigeon books. I just found that he even has his own Twitter account. (I mean, really?) Again, who can resist a good animal book, especially when it's funny? Pigeon has a few friends like Elephant, Piggie, Edwina, etc. that add to the fun. My favorite of the series is probably Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. It has a lot of dialogue. It's great for pointing out expression as you read. Pigeon has lots of energy. At one point, Pigeon freaks out, and whenever I get to that point the kids know that I'm going to YELL, because the letters are in capital and have lots of exclamation marks.

Here's his website.

Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

Not an animal, but I love her spunk.

One of the few favorite characters that's not an animal... Junie B. Jones! I enjoy using these books with kiddos who are just starting into chapter books. The chapters are usually short (5-8 pages). They are sucked into the books because of Junie's mischievous ways. I think a lot of them can relate to her! With the character being a girl, you'd think at this age most boys wouldn't be into it, but I find that sometimes boys like this series more than the girls. (I think it has to do again with the mischievous ways!)

My only thing with Junie that I have mixed emotions about is the way she talks. She talks how you'd expect an average 5 or so year old to talk. Her grammar is not exactly the best. I like this because the author is keeping it real, but on the other hand, my teacher mode kicks in. I feel the need to point out the errors. I usually tell the students about the fact that sometimes Junie doesn't speak ~~good~~ well (see what I did there?) beforehand. Sometimes they'll even point out the errors. They'll say things like, "That doesn't sound right."

Duck from Duck for President by Doreen Cronin

I'd vote for him in this election!

Here we go again, another animal. I know, I know. Doreen Cronin introduced us to Duck in Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type, (which is another awesome book by the way). This book is great to use this year with the upcoming election. I always use it in election years to explain what it means to become POTUS and how that happens. We do a whole bunch of things regarding this (which I'm turning into a TpT product as we speak).

Plus, we always check out a few Kid President videos. (This one especially. He's too darn cute!)

Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin

Who doesn't love Pete the Cat? He's one cool cat. This character is a favorite of the kids and mine. (I also have a soft spot for Pete because my fiance has a cat named Pete... well, actually Pierre, but we call him Pete.)

Thanks for reading all about my 5 fave characters!

Head over to Minute Mommy for the next stop!