Kidsmomo

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means that very soon, tables will be laden with turkey, pie will be heaped onto plates, football will fill TV screens, and kidlit will take to the sky.

Wait, what?

I’m talking about the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, of course! Over the years, more and more children’s book characters have joined the floating ranks — most recently, Greg Heffley of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid books:

Photo from the blog of the Wimpy Kid publisher's creative director

But let’s not forget these beloved old-timers:

Giant flying Cat in the Hat, Clifford, and Horton!

I got to thinking: who else would make a good balloon? Here are my suggestions to Macy’s:

• Harry Potter on a broom: This one’s a no-brainer; he’s already flying, and he’s AWESOME!
• Eloise: She’s a total New Yorker, and she’s got a larger-than-life personality — a perfect fit!
• Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events: Sure, he might scare some of the younger kids, but his head’s so big already, it would be an easy balloon to make.
• Grover from the Percy Jackson series: What better way to capture a satyr’s graceful leaping?

Hello, Thanksgiving Day Parade bigwigs! Are you reading this? Oh, wait, I guess you’re probably busy getting ready for tomorrow’s parade… Well, let’s just pretend they’re reading this! Which kidlit characters would YOU suggest as balloons?

Oh, yeah, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM KIDSMOMO!

— Karen

Karen is making Thanksgiving dinner for her parents this year, for the first time ever. Uh, does anyone know how to cook?

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