Little Lucy's Literary Crushes

Dear Friends,

Did you ever have a crush on a character from a book? I totally have. As a young girl there were several book characters who captured my imagination and whom I considered to be fine specimens of manhood. I thought that if they existed in real life I would hopefully marry one of them. I share them down below in chronological order my encounter with them.

Here are my top three literary crushes from my early years:

1.

Character: Henry Huggins
Author: Beverly Cleary
Books: Henry Huggins, Henry and Ribsy, Ramona the Pest (here Henry does not have a large part, but he is older...and cuter)
My Age: 6-7

Quote: 

"Henry Huggins was in the third grade. His hair looked like a scrubbing brush and most of his grown-up front teeth were in. He lived with his mother and father in a square white house on Klikitat Street. Except for having his tonsils out when he was six and breaking his arm falling out of a cherry tree when he was seven, nothing much ahppened to Henry."

-Beverly Cleary, Henry Huggins

Attractive Qualities: I loved Henry, because he was fun, creative and just a plain nice guy. He liked to build cool things like a clubhouse and he would have adventures in his ordinary American suburb. I have always found guys who make stuff to be pretty attractive. He was also nice to girls and very loving to animals, especially his dog Ribsy. I love the old illustrations by Louis Darling.

I was introduced to Beverly Cleary's children's novels at around age six or seven. I loved Henry before I loved Cleary's more well-known character Ramona Quimby. My favourite thing to do ever at age six or seven was to sit and listen to Henry Huggins on tape as read by Stockard Channing.

2. 

Character: Samwise Gamgee
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Books: The Lord of the Rings
My Age: 8-9

Quote: 

‘If you don’t come back, sir, then I shan’t, that’s certain,’ said Sam. ‘Don’t you leave him! they said to me. Leave him! I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon, and if any of those Black Rulers try to stop him, they’ll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with, I said. They laughed.’ 

-JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Attractive Qualities: I loved Sam dearly from the first time my parents read us LOTR when I was around eight or nine. I loved him, because he was so loyal to Frodo. I thought that his kindness and stubbornness with regards to remaining faithful and brave were totally awesome. I always wanted to play Sam when we played our LOTR board game.

I was also attracted to Sam's profession as a gardener and someone who cared about earthy and domestic things like dirt and potatoes. I like his practicality.

My mother and I compared notes on LOTR crushes. She said that when she was young she adored Aragorn. She said that it took her a long time to like Sam, because he was simple and annoying! Humph! Excuse you!

3.

Character: Klaus Baudelaire
Author: Lemony Snicket
Books: The Series of Unfortunate Events
My Age: 11-12

Quote:

“Being only twelve, Klaus of course had not read all the books in the Baudelaire library, but he had read a great many of them and had retained a lot of the information from his readings. He knew how to tell an alligator from a crocodile. He knew who killed Julius Caesar. And he knew much about the tiny, slimy animals found at Briny Beach, which he was examining now.” 

-Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning 

Attractive Qualities: I was obsessed with The Series of Unfortunate Events in middle school. I thought they were so cool and so clever. I loved the dark tone of the books and the prospect of a conspiracy to uncover which pervades the series. I also adored the illustrations and style designed by Brett Helquist, who remains one of my favourite illustrators today. I actually think my style has evolved to resemble his on occasion.

I loved Klaus. He was a lot like me in many ways: He wore glasses, was a middle child (he the middle of two sisters and I of two brothers), and he read incessantly. Those were three things which built a huge part of my identity in middle school. HE also carried around a thing which he called a "common place book". He wrote everything of importance down in it. I was inspired to do the same thing and ever since reading SOUE I have kept a common place book of some sort.

Who is you literary crush? Post a comment below to tell me!

PS
Here is a post about some of my favourite children's books.
Here is another book-related post.