Heroes and Villains

To celebrate World Book Day (3 March 2016) “National Book Tokens” ran a poll to find the top 10 greatest heroes and most evil villains in children’s literature. Children and adults in the UK and Ireland took part in the poll and thousands of votes were cast. 

Top 10 Greatest Heroes

1. Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series)
2. Matilda Wormwood (Roald Dahl – Matilda)
3. Hermione Granger (J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series)
4. Bilbo Baggins (J.R.R. Tolkien – The Hobbit)
5. Lyra Belacqua (Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials Series)
6. Jo March (Louisa May Alcott – Little Women)
7. Katniss Everdeen (Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games Series)
8. Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne – Winnie-the-Pooh)
9. Anne Shirley (L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables)
10. Paddington Bear ( Michael Bond - A Bear Called Paddington)

Top 10 Most Evil Villains

1. Lord Voldemort (J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series)
2. Dolores Umbridge (J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series)
3. Cruella de Vil (Dodie Smith – The Hundred and One Dalmatians)
4. The White Witch (C.S. Lewis – The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)
5. Miss Trunchbull (Roald Dahl – Matilda)
6. Bellatrix Lestrange (J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series)
7. Bill Sykes (Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist)
8. The Grand High Witch (Roald Dahl – The Witches)
9. Count Olaf (Lemony Snicket – A Series of Unfortunate Events)
10. Mrs Coulter (Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials Series)

This got me thinking about all the wonderful children’s books

I’ve enjoyed as a child and as an adult. My favourite book in primary school was “The Silver Sword” by Ian Serraillier. Set in Poland during World War 2 it tells the story of a heroic group of children who escape the Warsaw ghetto and make their way on foot to Switzerland in search of their parents and freedom. The anti-hero, Jan still remains one of my all time favourite characters.

As an adult I’ve shared books with many children during my years working in libraries. One of my favourites for Storytime is Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, so my number one hero comes from that, Little Red Riding Hood. When she comes up against the wolf at grandma’s house it doesn’t end well for Mr Wolf.

“The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.

She whips a pistol from her knickers

She aims it at the creature’s head

And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead”

The most evil villain for me as an animal lover would have to

be the infamous Cruella de Vil from “The Hundred and One Dalmatians”. I realise that’s something of a contradiction when my favourite hero has killed a wolf, but he was a big, bad wolf!

I ran a straw poll among library staff to compare our results with the national poll. Our most evil villain turned out to be Cruella de Vil (number 3 in the national results). However when it came to the greatest hero everyone voted for someone different, so no winner emerged. Does that mean there are more heroes than villains in children's literature I wonder?

Who would you vote for? Let me know by posting a comment below.