Personification Stories

Stories about ordinary children having incredible adventures are all well and good, but sometimes what we really need are stories about the crazy things a tug boat might do, or a teddy bear, or a piece of string. It's the appeal of literature—a good book shows us the world from a different perspective, sometimes even a shocking one, and what's more different than a toy or a pickup who can talk and think?

For a kid, maybe not much. So much is new and surprising to the young that animals or chairs with personality doesn't seem strange, at least no more strange than many other things adults find more common. Which is precisely why children should be allowed to read personification stories (stories about non-human beings or objects with human qualities).

If you want your progeny to have vivid imaginations, why not offer them the kind of reading that will promote creativity and curiosity? But we don't want them retreating into a fantasy world of their own creation, you may object. No caring parent does—but everyone should want their kids to be interested in the people and world around them. A fresh view can lead to a lifetime of investigation.

Not that toaster ovens really get up and leave the junkyard, but the possibility is what enthralls kids (and, often enough, adults). We've tried to select only the best personification stories, particularly those that actually have something to impart to readers besides entertainment value. For older readers, most of the really good personification stories are animal fantasy, another category we suggest for your enjoyment.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Personification Stories
88 Items found Print
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by ??
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Charles Folkard
from David McKay Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Travel and Adventure Library for Young Folks
by Carlo Collodi, translated and adapted by Angelo Patri and illustrated by Mary Liddell
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Best-Loved Doll
by Rebecca Caudill
from Henry Holt and Company
Personification Stories for
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.99
Caboose Who Got Loose
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Personification Stories for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Choo Choo
by Virginia Lee Burton
from Houghton Mifflin
Personification Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill
by Dorothy Wall
Ill from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Corduroy
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
Personification Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Corduroy - Spanish edition
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
Personification Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Spanish Resources (Location: FL-SPARE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Doll People
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brian Selznick
Reprint from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Doll People Set Sail
Doll People Book 4
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Reprint from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Floating Island
by Anne Parrish, illustrated by "Mr. Doll"
from Harper & Brothers
for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Go, Train, Go!
by Elizabeth Terrill, Rev. W. Awdry
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Gregory's Shadow
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Hitty
by Rachel Field
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Personification story for 4th-8th grade
1930 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.99
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1969 printing from Macmillan
for 5th-9th grade
1930 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Holiday for Edith and the Bears
by Dare Wright
from Doubleday & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Jennifer and Josephine
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Personification for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Katy and the Big Snow
by Virginia Burton
from Houghton Mifflin
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Little Engine That Could
by Watty Piper, Cristina Ong (Illustrator)
1st edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Engine That Could - Original Edition
by Watty Piper
from Platt and Munk Publishers
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.99
Little Fir Tree
by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Little House
by Virginia Lee Burton
from Sandpiper Books
Personification Stories for Preschool-3rd grade
1943 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
by Hildegarde H. Swift & Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Little Toot
by Hardie Gramatky
from Penguin Putnam
Personification Stories for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Little Toot on the Thames
by Hardie Gramatky
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lonely Doll
by Dare Wright
from Doubleday & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Loopy
by Hardie Gramatky
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Marcella
Raggedy Ann #3
by Johnny Gruelle
from Simon and Schuster
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Maybelle the Cable Car
by Virginia Burton
from Houghton Mifflin
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Maybelle the Cable Car
by Virginia Burton
from Houghton Mifflin
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Meanest Doll in the World
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brian Selznick
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Meanest Doll in the World
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brian Selznick
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
by Virginia Burton
from Houghton Mifflin
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo
from Candlewick Press
Personification for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.99
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo
from Candlewick Press
Personification for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Miss Hickory
by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
from Puffin Books
Personification story for 3rd-7th grade
1947 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.50 (3 in stock)
Nutcracker
by ETA Hoffman & Don Daily
from Running Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Nutcracker
by ETA Hoffman & Don Daily
from Running Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$12.95
Nutcracker
by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Veronica Tennant
1st edition from McClelland & Stewart
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Paddington Treasury
by Michael Bond, illustrated by R. W. Alley
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$27.99
Pinocchio
Puffin Classics
by Carlo Collodi, translated by E. Hardin and illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi
from Puffin Books
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.50 (3 in stock)
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M. A. Murray and illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt
from Unicorn Publishing House
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio
Sterling Classics
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pinocchio
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M. A. Murray and illustrated by Roberta MacDonald
from Junior Deluxe Editions
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pinocchio
Children's Classics
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Charles Folkard
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pinocchio
Rainbow Classics
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Joseph Walker and illustrated by Richard Floethe
from World Publishing Company
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Alice Carsey
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
$18.00
Pinocchio
Windermere Readers #2
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Esther Friend
from Rand McNally
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pinocchio
Windermere Series 4
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Esther Friend
from Rand McNally
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M. A. Murray and illustrated by Roberto Innocenti
from Creative Editions
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pocket for Corduroy
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
Personification Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Raggedy Andy Stories
Raggedy Ann #2
by Johnny Gruelle
Book Club Edition from Bobbs-Merril Co
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees
by Johnny Gruelle
1960 printing from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
by Rudyard Kipling
from William Morrow & Company
Realistic Animal Stories for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
by Rudyard Kipling, adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
2004 Paperback from HarperTrophy
Realistic Animal Stories for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Smokey
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Rhyming / Personification for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Steadfast Tin Soldier
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
from Andersen Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Steadfast Tin Soldier
by Adrian Mitchell, Hans Christian Andersen
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
Steadfast Tin Soldier
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
from Gulliver Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Story of the Nutcracker
by Robert Mathias
from Crescent Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Teddy Bears' Picnic
by Jimmy Kennedy
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by William Nicholson
from Avon Books
Personification for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Michael Green
from Running Press
Personification for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.95
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
Personification for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Robyn Officer
Reprint. from Barnes & Noble
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, Illustrated by Charles Santore
Kohl's Cares Edition from Appleseed Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams Bianco, illustrated by Donna Green
from Smithmark Publishers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Elizabeth Miles
from Cartwheel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Michael Green
from Running Press
Personification for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Allen Atkinson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Personification for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
from Health Communications, Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams Bianco, illustrated by Donna Green
from Vermillion, Inc
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Robot
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Wild Robot
Wild Robot #1
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Wild Robot - 2 book Gift Set
Wild Robot #1 and #2
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Wild Robot Escapes
Wild Robot #2
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Wild Robot Escapes
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$8.99
Wild Robot Protects
Wild Robot #3
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Winnie-the-Pooh Hardcover Collection
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$63.96