Endearing Characters

Hello, Halloween! Excitement mounts as costumed kids knock on doors and ring bells envisioning sweet treats dropped into super-sized bags. Far bee it from Clover to miss the chance to introduce some treats of her own this month, the lasting, literary kind that won’t threaten pearly whites with M&M-sized cavities.

To commemorate the festivities, Clover happily introduces a trio of “Endearing Characters” she loves in brand new books that have wooed her from first page to last.

Meet a girl and her ghost pest, an adorable Irish unicorn, and a tiny bear that makes a huge difference.

Page On! Enjoy!

The Community Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Neighborhood Reads, and with support from its sponsors, provides these books at no cost to 38 schools in Washington, Union, Pacific, St. Clair and surrounding communities and to the Washington Public Library. Learn more at CommunityLiteracyFoundation.org.

Youngest Read

The thought of living on her own, without anyone bothering her or telling her what to do, sounds amazing to Aggie. But it’s not happening in an engaging picture book with muted, expressive illustrations about a would-be friendship with more holes in it than a Jack-O-Lantern.

“Aggie and the Ghost,” written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe, introduces readers to a girl who moves into a woodsy new house in the forest, only to discover a haunt already calls her house home.

This particular ghost isn’t scary, just annoying. “The ghost followed her everywhere. She was never alone.” The ghost distracts Aggie when she reads, gobbles up her cheese, and gets on her last nerve. To gain control of her abode, Aggie comes up with a list of rules for the ghost to follow, an idea that fails miserably.

Aggie has to get creative to thwart the stubborn spirit. She challenges the ghost to an old-fashioned game that will decide if the ghost must leave Aggie’s home. The competition draws a gaggle of ghosts that proclaim Aggie’s sure to lose because “humans are very bad at tic-tack-toe.” The outcome doesn’t decide anything, though it goes on for days, until the two return home together, exhausted.

Aggie finally gets her way—or does she? Like Aggie, sometimes we think we know what’s best for us, but when faced with an outcome, realize it may have been better to accept another’s companionship instead of ghosting them.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Middle Read

“Margaret’s Unicorn,” by Briony May Smith, awakens the wonder of the magical world of unicorns, and a bonny young one that a lonely child befriends when she comes to Ireland.

Moving to another country isn’t what Margaret wants—things are different than what she’s used to—but her grandmother lives in Ireland and she needs her family around, so off the family goes to create a new home away from home.

Upon arrival, Margaret’s father encourages Margaret to go “exploring” but advises her not to venture beyond the “big rock” along the wild, craggy shore.

As Margaret pauses to take in the dramatic view of the mountains and ocean, she notices clouds that look like galloping horses—in actually they are white unicorns with streaming manes and wavy tails. As she rushes back to tell her parents about what she’s seen Margaret hears a “snuffling noise,” looks down and spots something “silvery…in the weeds.”

So begins a relationship that delights Margaret and helps form an even deeper bond with her grandmother, who admits when she was a girl “we would watch the unicorns fly off to Unicorn Island on the last summer wind.”

As the month’s pass, the unicorn becomes a beloved member of Margaret’s family.

This lush, lovely book not only celebrates a growing friendship, it also brings the glory of the Irish seasons to life in gorgeously realistic landscapes. “Margaret’s Unicorn” is a fantastical read about beginnings and endings and how we grow with life’s rich, varied experiences.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Oldest Read

Katherine Applegate’s newest treasure, “Pocket Bear,” is narrated by Zephyrina, a purr-fectly original feline, aka, “Kleptocat,” because of the cat’s flair for rooting through rubbish for treasures. The loot is deposited on the front porch of two goodhearted humans who discover a way to repurpose stuffed animals that Zephyrina gifts them. Elizaveta and her daughter Dasha oversee “Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured,” a goodwill project.

While the toys get cleaned up and wait for new owners, they bond in Elizaveta and Dasha’s home, an array of plushes commandeered by Pocket Bear, a tiny leader of a teddy bear who accompanied his owner into battle, comforting the World War I soldier from a chest pocket, the bear’s eyes turned up to look into the soldier’s face. These pocket bears actually existed, and were a reminder of home and family for the troops off at war.

Another memorable find Zephyrina discovers is Berwon, a regular-size teddy bear, one that proves to be valuable, and the source of dire deception when a crafty, crooked antique dealer realizes the bear’s worth. Good takes on evil with Zephyrina “…the Robin Hood of felines” at the helm, determined with every inch of her being to be “…pure stealth and sinew and swagger.”

In “Pocket Bear,” Applegate has created another admirable animal that follows in the footsteps of Ivan, the gorilla, a Silverback of heroic proportion. Here’s hoping we’ll be reading more about Zephyrina in up and coming titles.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Written by Chris Stuckenschneider.

Copyright 2025, Community Literacy Foundation.