World Book Day: Our Favourite Book Characters

It’s World Book Day today and to mark the occasion in this post we share our favourite book characters…

Tommi

My favourite character changes quite often – unless you count Moomintroll of course who is my all-time favourite. I’m currently reading The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa, and I find myself really taken by the Housekeeper and her burgeoning interest in mathematics and her growing friendship with the Professor whose memory only lasts 80 minutes. Thankfully mine lasts a bit longer than that!

Sarah

My most obvious pick would be Anne Shirley, as I’ve regularly reread the Anne books since age 11. That said, as an adult she’s a bit too perfect at times – as readers we’re treated to a detailed account of just two days’ worth of bad moods over her life! For more recent books, I’m quite fond of the ladies of the Athena Club, the daughters of Drs Jekyll, Frankenstein, Moreau and Rappaccini – they are pretty kick ass and provide some fun reading!

Laura

I’m going to go back to my childhood for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the tales of Milly Molly Mandy (again, and again, and again!). They’re very old books – the first was written in 1928 – and are about the everyday life of a little girl. She takes great delight in doing simple things like going blackberry picking, growing cress and knitting a tea cosy. Things like having her photo taken and going for a ride in a car are perceived as absolutely the most exciting things ever! Even though times have changed a great deal since the books were written, I feel that there is still a lot we can learn from Milly Molly Mandy and her zest for enjoying all the modest moments of her life. I shall certainly be passing the books on to my daughter.

Stanzi

I think I would have to say Beatrice from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. I first read the play when I was pretty young – not that I understood all of it at that point! – and thought she was a great, strong character. The wit and sparring between her and Benedick, the loyalty and love she shows her family, an unfaltering sense of honour and such a fierceness in a world dominated by men. I think it always struck a feminist chord in me. And instilled a healthy sense of vengeance!

Rose

Rose as Lorna Doone, Exmoor 1990

One of my favourite fiction characters is the eponymous heroine of R.D. Blackmore’s 1869 tale of adventure and romance, Lorna Doone. As a child, and well into my teens, I spent holidays camping, pony trekking, wild swimming and walking on beautiful Exmoor in West Somerset, where the book is set. I had the abridged version on cassette tape and mum and I would listen to it in the car, stuffed to the gunnels with camping paraphernalia, on the drive from home to our campsite. Once the tent was up and the sleeping bags unrolled, I became Lorna, the enigmatic, brave young aristocrat (as it turns out), captured and imprisoned by the fearsome outlawed Doone Clan. Lorna, in turn, captures the heart of local farmer’s son, John Ridd, and a daring escape – including a fateful fight next to one of Exmoor’s notorious ‘black bogs’ – ensues. I’ll always be grateful to Lorna for inspiring my own wonderful childhood moorland adventures.

Anna

It’s not very cool, but I’m going to nominate Marcus Didius Falco, from Lindsey Davis’s series of 20 novels about the trials and tribulations of a Roman private investigator, as my favourite character. Beset by a largely terrible family and a ruling class that is in general very much out to get him, Falco is funnily, fallibly and (sometimes somewhat begrudgingly) always on the side of the down-trodden and neglected.

Flo

Thinking about my favourite book characters, there seems to be a bit of a theme…one is Tom from Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian (my favourite book as a child) whose gruff exterior belies a kind heart and who reluctantly takes in WW2 evacuee Willie. I loved witnessing their relationship grow and Willie come out of his shell in Tom’s care. Another that springs to mind is Hobie, the antique shop owner from Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, who befriends the book’s protagonist Theo at his lowest ebb and provides a safe refuge from his increasingly disturbing life.

Rosie

I found this just as impossible as choosing a favourite book! Thinking of my earliest favourites (and still cheating with two choices), I’ll go with Roald Dahl’s Matilda and Miss Honey. I was an obsessively keen reader when I was little, so I loved this book for giving me a likeable know-it-all, while Miss Honey reminded me so much of my lovely Primary 1 teacher that I’m not even sure who I’m remembering now. I tried moving objects with my mind for about a year after reading Matilda, and while I appreciate my family supporting my love of books, I do blame them for my lack of magical ability.

Elinor

I found it impossible to pick an all-time favourite character so I decided to pick one from a recently read book instead. The Wild Robot is a book I enjoyed reading with my son and we were both enthralled by the character of the robot Roz. Stranded on a remote island, Roz learns to live among the wild animals on the island despite their initial hostility towards her. Although she was created to be an efficient and emotionless servant, she slowly and painstakingly earns the trust and respect of the wild animals on the island.