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[Caleb]

A young library patron just asked me if we had any fiction books that featured Personification as a theme.

My mind went blank since that is just a HUGE theme in literature.

Even the setting of most fictional literature is personified (example gritty NYC).

In any case I said Watership Down because that was the only one I could think of at the time. 

That is specifically anthropomorphism rather than personification though.  Which was OK I guess since anthropomorphism IS personification.  I dunno if she needed examples of inanimate objects being personified or not.   In any case it was a very interesting question.

After I thought about it for a bit it's amazing how the books I could think of that I read in my early teens that had Personified  animal characters.  It's odd that my mind was blanked when the patron first asked the question.

Two examples:

Redwall
Bunnicula

Anyone remember any cool books you read as a younger kid?

Any books that feature personification?

[Eris]

Wind in the Willows is anthropomorphism, but the characters are also character traits personified, so I guess that would work. t's the only one I can think of off the top of my head, though.

[Abigmoron]

Watership Down is awesome, so you did good.  I bought it for my girlfriend who loves fiction and rabbits.  I kind of wish she had left it here cause I don't know where my copy is.  Frowntown.

A kind of round-a-bout method of anthropomorphizing/personification could be found in "A Song of Ice and Fire" where the characters would have animals associated with their houses (families) and then assume the personified traits of those animals (Starks=wolves=loyal, Lannisters=lions=fierce, etc).  I like this because the anthropomorphizing/personification is happening in the characters minds, instead of creating the characters.

[short5913]

Im fairly sure there might have been personification in the ballad of the sad cafe` but i could be mistaken i have studied way too many book to remember correctly hahaaa

[look out! Ninjas!]

You could go Maus, which is really good.

I'm not sure if it's personification though, because the animal-ness has been grafted onto the characters rather than character being grafted onto animals.
Animalification perhaps?

Anyway, tell them to read it anyway.

[Caleb]

Everyone should read Maus.

[Orbert]

There's a series of books called "Warriors" by Erin Hunter which is all about these cats that live in the wild and have their own clans and society and stuff.  The characters are surprisingly well developed and the issues they face are relatively interesting, if you like cats.

There's a series called "Guardians of Ga'hoole" by Kathryn Lasky which is kinda the same thing, only they're owls.

My son has been reading these books since he was eight years old and loves them.