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Home » Parenting and Family » Favorite Picture Book Characters to Introduce to Your Kids

Favorite Picture Book Characters to Introduce to Your Kids

Post by Rebecca Reid 119 Comments

Today is the first day of my Read 1000 Books before Kindergarten series. In the coming days I’ll talk about how to read to your baby/toddler/preschooler, why you should read 1000 books to your child before kindergarten, and more. Today I’m talking about who you’ll meet in favorite picture books and what to read with your young children. I’ve collected a list of my favorite picture book characters you should “get to know” by reading the books with your kids before kindergarten. Your kids will love them!

Every kid needs to meet these favorite picture book characters! They are a part of early childhood culture!

A Few Favorite Picture Book Characters (in Series)

The first set of characters I’d like to introduce are Elephant and Piggie. Elephant is named Gerald, and he’s a worry wart. Piggie is more of a carefree spirit. In their books, which are award-winning early readers by Mo Willems, the two friends have adventures, talk about sharing, play games, and meet new friends. There are 25 books in the series, and the last one is a thank you to the readers who have read their books. I love the personalities of these friends, but the characters also face similar issues to those the little kids reading them may face. If you love Elephant and Piggie or if you’d love to meet them, scroll to the end of the post to enter a special giveaway!

We also love the Berenstain Bears series in our house. Brother and Sister Bear, and later Honey Bear, helped me learn how to clean my room, get ready for the doctor and dentist, and more. The stories are highly relevant to kids. The newer ones are not as “classic” or memorable to me, but maybe that’s just because I didn’t read them as a kid. (I admit that as a grown up, there are many words in the text!)

How could a favourite picture book characters list not include Curious George by H.A. Rey? The stories both old and new show a monkey that is usually pretty naughty, and yet very lovable. Just a note for those who love originals only and not copy-cat sequels: Many of the stories in our Five Minute Curious George stories are excerpts from the originals.

Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy (created by Don Freeman) is a another picture book set with a memorable character. We love Corduroy the teddy bear. He joins his owner, Lisa, in more adventures (probably written by a ghost writer).

Amelia Bedelia (created by Peggy Parish) features a very literal person who “strips the sheets” by ripping them in strips, and “runs home” during baseball instead of running to home base. Although my 3-year-olds never seemed to like her, by ages 4 and 5, they enjoyed her ridiculous personality. Modern-day picture books of Amelia Bedelia as a child also add more double meanings into the kids’ vocabulary.

Llama Llama is a memorable little Llama who has red pajamas and loves his mama (by Anna Dewdney).

Duck from Fix-It Duck, Captain Duck and more (created by Jez Albourough) is also a silly guy we’re sure to remember.

Every kid will love to meet these favorite picture book characters! They are a part of early childhood culture!

More Favorites Characters in a Series

There are dozens more series that we love. Here are a few of the picture books (first in the series):

  • Duck and Goose by Tad Hill
  • Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin
  • Kipper by Mick Inkpen
  • Maisy by Lucy Cousins
  • Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
  • Big Dog, Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
  • No, David!! by David Shannon
  • Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
  • Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathon London
  • Biscuit by Capucilli
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Some Stand-alone Favourite Picture Book Characters

These favorite characters don’t have a whole shelf of sequels for reading about them. But the authors who created themmade them memorable enough that even just one book makes them our favorites. Great books for your young “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” reader.

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. See my hermit crab and moon activities for more books inspired by this author.
  • Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Kids relate to Max in his wolf suit.
  • The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
  • The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
  • Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Want to meet more amazing book characters? Get picture book inspiration and see some of my favorite picture books with my mega list of 100+ picture book preschoool activities. I’ve also written about favorite pictures books my toddler loved and favorite ABC books. Although those don’t necessarily have memorable characters, they are memorable in their own right!

More about Reading 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

It may sound overwhelming to read 1000 books before kindergarten, but it becomes a lot of fun and you will be amazed by how "literate" your children will be! Give them a head start and read aloud every day.

Favorite Picture Book Characters to Read before Kindergarten (today)

Why Read 1000 Books before Kindergarten? (Tuesday)

Stages of Reading with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers (Wednesday)

Building Your Home Library (Thursday)

Keeping Track of 1000 Books before Kindergarten (Friday)

If you like this post, you may also like...

You can track the 1000 books read before kindergarten on a handy chart or digitally. Download the free option I made for you!Keeping Track of 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Top Ten Picture Books for Toddlers Keep quality books around your home and build a home library for your kids to have exposure to great books from a young age!Building a Home Library for Your Kids Our mini-lesson on our favorite characters habitats was made all the more interesting when Ariel's habitat collided with Nemo and Dory's habitat!Favorite Characters’ Habitats Imagination Play 100+ Preschool Picture Book Lessons and Activities

Filed Under: Parenting and Family Tagged With: 1000 books before Kindergarten, book list, favorite books, picture books

Comments

  1. Lynn says

    August 6, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    Horton the Elephant!

    Reply
  2. Stacia Shafor says

    August 7, 2017 at 12:22 am

    Pete the Cat!

    Reply
  3. Katie B says

    August 7, 2017 at 5:55 am

    Berenstain Bears

    Reply
  4. Katie says

    August 7, 2017 at 6:41 am

    winnie the pooh

    Reply
  5. Lori R says

    August 7, 2017 at 7:04 am

    Curious George

    Reply
  6. Sara says

    August 7, 2017 at 7:39 am

    Berenstein Bears!!

    Reply
  7. Julie says

    August 7, 2017 at 7:44 am

    The Berenstain Bears

    Reply
  8. Jenna DeMaria says

    August 7, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Piggie

    Reply
    • Teresa Wagner says

      August 7, 2017 at 9:22 am

      Corduroy

      Reply
  9. millertimenow says

    August 7, 2017 at 9:32 am

    brown bear

    Reply
  10. Diane says

    August 7, 2017 at 9:44 am

    George and Martha

    Reply
    • Anna S says

      August 7, 2017 at 6:46 pm

      So many fond memories of George and Martha from my own childhood!

      Reply
  11. Pam says

    August 7, 2017 at 10:12 am

    Amelia Bedelia!

    Reply
  12. Tanya Button says

    August 7, 2017 at 10:25 am

    Burglar Bill (kids picture book from the UK)

    Reply
  13. Ashley R says

    August 7, 2017 at 10:40 am

    I loved Amelia Bedelia growing up.

    Reply
  14. Christie Miller says

    August 7, 2017 at 11:18 am

    Pigeon books

    Reply
  15. Christina Akam says

    August 7, 2017 at 11:49 am

    Pete the Cat!

    Reply
  16. Julia Cosgrove says

    August 7, 2017 at 11:56 am

    My favorite story book characters are the Berenstain Bears.

    Reply
  17. Rachel says

    August 7, 2017 at 12:03 pm

    Frances! (Created by Russell Hoban)

    Reply
  18. Lisa Fetty says

    August 7, 2017 at 12:20 pm

    Winnie the Pooh

    Reply
  19. mary says

    August 7, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    Pete the Cat

    Reply
  20. Rhianna says

    August 7, 2017 at 1:14 pm

    The Berenstain Bears and Mo Willemstad are my favorite.

    Reply
    • Rhianna says

      August 7, 2017 at 1:15 pm

      Mo Willems not Mo Willemstad. ?‍♀️

      Reply
  21. Bambi says

    August 7, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    Piggie!

    Reply
  22. Grandma says

    August 7, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    Piggy

    Reply
  23. Lindsey Aylward says

    August 7, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    Gerald of course!

    Reply
  24. Kristina U says

    August 7, 2017 at 4:21 pm

    Right now my son’s favorite character is Pout Pout Fish.

    Reply
  25. Karli King says

    August 7, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    Amelia Bedelia! My son also takes everything literally 🙂

    Reply
  26. Sara Goldsmith says

    August 7, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    Oh my aunt came back

    Reply
  27. Jessica Medina says

    August 7, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    I love Amelia Bedlia.

    Reply
  28. Katie C. says

    August 7, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    My favorite picture book character is Max from Where the Wild Things Are.

    Reply
  29. Dayna Furnish says

    August 7, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    I’ve always loved Amelia Bedlia.

    Reply
  30. Nancy says

    August 7, 2017 at 6:21 pm

    I love Skippyjon Jones.

    Reply
  31. Angela Morrow says

    August 7, 2017 at 7:28 pm

    This is hard. Skippyjon Jones

    Reply
  32. Jamie says

    August 7, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    Oh gosh, too many to choose, but we really like Cyrus the Sea Serpent recently!

    Reply
  33. Judith Martinez says

    August 7, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    I think my favorite storybook character is corduroy the bear.

    Reply
  34. Lynsey Runyon says

    August 7, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    We really like Dr. Suess & Amelia Bedelia!!

    Reply
  35. Katy says

    August 7, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    I love the Berenstain Bears.

    Reply
  36. Jenny says

    August 7, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    My 6 year old says Pete the Cat and I say Dr. Seuss characters 🙂

    Reply
  37. Nicole Lancaster says

    August 7, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    My favorite picture book character is Winnie The Pooh.

    Reply
  38. Jennifer says

    August 8, 2017 at 12:02 am

    Curious George is a favorite around here!

    Reply
  39. Anna says

    August 8, 2017 at 1:02 am

    Totally love Curious George

    Reply
  40. Nicole says

    August 8, 2017 at 2:08 am

    Berenstain Bears, Dr. Seuss, Pete the Cat, and so many more but those are the top!!

    Reply
  41. Dandi D says

    August 8, 2017 at 5:58 am

    Right now in our house, it is definitely Curious George!

    Reply
  42. Jamie Leckey says

    August 8, 2017 at 6:36 am

    Little Cloud by Eric Carle

    Reply
  43. danielle says

    August 8, 2017 at 6:40 am

    Frog and Toad! Really, anything by Arnold Lobel is my favorite.

    Reply
  44. Claire Burkhardt says

    August 8, 2017 at 6:43 am

    Madeline!

    Reply
  45. Lynn says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:04 am

    Amelia Bedelia has always been a hit with my girls ?.

    Reply
  46. Bethany W says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:14 am

    Berenstain Bears are huge in our house.

    Reply
  47. Hayley says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:21 am

    We just discovered piggie and elephant and we love them! So entertaining and lots of learning opportunities with each book!

    Reply
  48. Sunny Barnum says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:35 am

    Amelia Bedilia

    Reply
  49. Charlotte Bowman says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:40 am

    I love the Llama Llama books!

    Reply
  50. Sue R says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:59 am

    Piggie!

    Reply
  51. Toni says

    August 8, 2017 at 9:09 am

    We just discovered George and Martha!

    Reply
  52. Mandy says

    August 8, 2017 at 9:33 am

    Curious George is so great!

    Reply
  53. Erica Lolley-Lanier says

    August 8, 2017 at 9:50 am

    I always loved the Bernstein Bears There was another when I was little and I can’t remember but it was insects that had milk carton houses and such

    Reply
  54. Erica Lolley-Lanier says

    August 8, 2017 at 9:50 am

    I always loved the Bernstein Bears There was another when I was little and I can’t remember but it was insects that had milk carton houses and such

    Reply
  55. Jbegreen says

    August 8, 2017 at 9:58 am

    Junie B. Jones

    Reply
  56. Morgan says

    August 8, 2017 at 10:00 am

    My kids love winnie the pooh and Piggie and elephant are big ones in this house too.

    Reply
  57. Kelly A says

    August 8, 2017 at 10:24 am

    We LOVE Piggie!!

    Reply
  58. Cindy says

    August 8, 2017 at 10:31 am

    Splat the Cat!

    Reply
  59. Diana says

    August 8, 2017 at 10:39 am

    Cordelia

    Reply
  60. Kay says

    August 8, 2017 at 11:59 am

    Elephant and Piggie ❤️

    Reply
  61. Katherine H says

    August 8, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    Amelia Bedelia!

    Reply
  62. Karianne says

    August 8, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    Gerald

    Reply
  63. Lauren M says

    August 8, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    Winnie the Pooh!

    Reply
  64. Kelly Levesque says

    August 8, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    Dr. Seuss characters.

    Reply
  65. Lisa T says

    August 8, 2017 at 4:12 pm

    Winnie the Pooh!

    Reply
  66. Lara says

    August 8, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    Tacky the Penguin!

    Reply
  67. Jessica says

    August 8, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    Curious George

    Reply
  68. Joanna says

    August 8, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    The Lorax!

    Reply
  69. Heather says

    August 8, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    We love elephant and piggie!

    Reply
  70. Virginia @thatbaldchick says

    August 8, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    I love Boo Boo the gosling and Peedie the duck

    Reply
  71. Stephanie says

    August 9, 2017 at 12:32 am

    Bernstein bears

    Reply
  72. Kate Martin says

    August 9, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Splat the Cat!

    Reply
  73. Carissa says

    August 9, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    Elephant & Piggie

    Reply
  74. Shannon Alexander says

    August 9, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    I have always loved Laura Ingalls Wilder, and she has picture books now. My kids love them.

    Reply
  75. Tanya says

    August 10, 2017 at 12:47 am

    Love the Little Critter books!

    Reply
  76. Jennifer Wilson says

    August 10, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    I loved the Sneetches from Dr. Suess.

    Reply
  77. Rachel says

    August 11, 2017 at 1:03 pm

    We love all the Dr. Suess characters!

    Reply
  78. Natasha says

    August 11, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    Little Bear!

    Reply
  79. Milly Voskanyan says

    August 11, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    I’m a fan of Curious George.

    Reply
  80. Wendy Jabkowski says

    August 11, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    We love Curious George

    Reply
  81. Mariann says

    August 12, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    Pigeon

    Reply
  82. Marci Douglas says

    August 12, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    My favorite read aloud is “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” So my favorite character would be Sylvester!

    Reply
  83. Amanda Harbison says

    August 12, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    I love SkippyJon Jones!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      August 12, 2017 at 1:58 pm

      Elephant and Piggie and The Pigeon!

      Reply
  84. Sarah says

    August 12, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    Elephant and Piggie and The Pigeon

    Reply
  85. Beth Ann says

    August 12, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    Pete the Cat! ?

    Reply
  86. Jen says

    August 12, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    My class loves Elephant and Piggie! I also like Splat the Cat.

    Reply
  87. kyra says

    August 12, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    we love elephant and piggie in “my friend is sad”

    Reply
  88. Gerrie Quimby says

    August 12, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    Winnie The Pooh

    Reply
  89. Nicole Eisenman says

    August 12, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    Anything by Cynthia Rylant or Arnold Lobel. Poppleton and Frog and Toad are huge favorites in our house.

    Reply
  90. Rebecca Olivero says

    August 12, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    I loved Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs when I was little, but my students love Princess Pinecone from the book “The Princess and The Pony” by Kate Beaton.

    Reply
  91. Becky says

    August 12, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    Trixie and Knufflebunny

    Reply
  92. Michelle says

    August 12, 2017 at 4:03 pm

    Elephant

    Reply
  93. Nikki Moeller says

    August 12, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    Pete the Cat

    Reply
  94. Meghan Hunt says

    August 12, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    Brown Bear

    Reply
  95. Danielle Combs says

    August 12, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    Piggie, Elephant, and Pigeon!

    Reply
  96. Deana says

    August 12, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    My littlest loves Maisy!

    Reply
  97. Tina Wilkerson says

    August 12, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    Pet the Cat

    Reply
  98. Nicole says

    August 12, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    Have loved Bernstein Bears since I was a kid!

    Reply
  99. Heather says

    August 12, 2017 at 7:41 pm

    Pete the Cat

    Reply
  100. Elizabeth says

    August 12, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    “a” from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

    Reply
  101. Kelly says

    August 12, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    Marley the dog!

    Reply
  102. Kathy says

    August 12, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    I can’t choose just one. It’s like asking which child is your favorite!
    A new favorite of mine is the gingerbread man from the g.m. gets loose in the school.

    Reply
  103. Donna says

    August 12, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    Skippy Jon Jones and Pete the Cat

    Reply
  104. Kim says

    August 12, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    Elephant

    Reply
  105. Cynthia b says

    August 12, 2017 at 11:57 pm

    Pete the Cat!

    Reply

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