Fern Walters

"No, but you're pretty good at figuring things out, when you're just being Fern."

&mdash; Francine Frensky, "Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain" Fern Walters is a 3rd grade student at Lakewood Elementary that is portrayed by Holly G. Frankel. She is generally viewed as a quiet, shy girl with a love of poetry and mysteries. Because of her shy personality her mother, Doria Walters, often signs her up in various classes to get her involved in social gatherings with peers, partly because she believes that Fern is too quiet and needs to make friends instead of reading mystery books. Fern herself sometimes thinks that she herself is too quiet; she once referred to herself as "invisible". Although Fern is shy, when something goes wrong she will speak her mind of whatever she believes is the right thing.

Fern is well known as a talented and realistic raconteur, especially when it comes to horror and mystery stories. She loves solving mysteries, as she once solved a case in the episode Fern's Slumber Party. Fern is also talented musically. She is a great singer and can perform music from several genres, such as rock seen in Arthur, It's Only Rock and Roll or pop which was seen in Phony Fern. She plays the piccolo, and is in the school band with Arthur and his friends. In the series, her favorite authors are Agatha Christie, Mary Shelley, and Persimmony Glitchet.

Appearance
Fern is an anthropomorphic dog with tan fur. She is usually seen wearing a long sleeved purple blouse with yellow buttons, matching it with yellow pants and brown loafers. She also wears a bright red bow on her head; this bow can vary in color depending on her current activity.

Personality
Fern is depicted as introverted and quiet at first, worried about mixing with her peers. As Frensky, Francine says in "I'm a Poet", Fern "never says anything". However, following that episode, she starts to become involved more socially with her friends, interacting with them and helping some of them with their problems. One of Fern's most notable talents is her flair and aptitude for writing poetry and stories, which was first highlighted in "I'm A Poet" and strengthened in "Fernlets by Fern" and "Fern & Persimmony Glitchet". Her favourite authors (as said in Fern & Persimmony Glitchet) are Mary Shelly, Agatha Christie and Persimmony Glitchet. In addition, Fern appears to have a great deal of imagination, as shown in Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain and Fernkenstein's Monster. However, some of Fern's major flaws stem from her stubbornness and headstrong attitude, which can be very trying to others at times and can potentially lead to arguments, including a particularly venomous altercation with Francine. Fern also has a small talent for acting, as seen in "No Acting, Please". As evidenced, she has a quick wit for playing tricks, and on one occasion she fooled even Brain into believing a yarn concerning giant worms in "War Of The Worms". Fern's worst fear is that she will be invisible to others, which was elaborated upon in "Popular Girls".

She is midfielder for Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team.

Future Life
If the intro to the episode, "The Election" happens, she will be either future President, Muffy's running mate or a member of her party.

Family
Fern has a small family, consisting of her mother and a father. It seems that Fern is not a only child, as she has a little sister in D.W.'s preschool class. Her mother first appears in "Fern's Slumber Party" and her father appears in the episode "Phony Fern", but is also first mentioned in the former.
 * Doria Walters - As Fern's mother, she persistently encourages Fern to join new groups in order to make friends and become more socially active. She also worries that Fern is too quiet, and generally worries about her in this regard. She refers to Fern as "Ferny" sometimes.

Friends

 * Sue Ellen Armstrong - Fern and Sue Ellen are often seen together when they hang out. They become better friends when they both make a pact in the episode Popular Girls, and they are seen running around (in the background) in the episode Mr. Alwaysright. They also give each other advice, as seen in "Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurus".
 * Muffy Crosswire - Fern and Muffy become good friends when they both have the same cellphone, the Portilex 360. They text and talk to each other constantly. But then fern gets a boring cell and muffy says "I woudn't call you on that thing even if you payed me!" Other than that, they seem to be portrayed as close friends in the later seasons, as they are seen watching a movie and auditioning for the same part in a play.


 * Francine Frensky - It is not known if they are truly close friends because, after all, Francine made fun of Fern, as did Fern to Francine. Despite this, they seem to confide in each other and appreciate the same type of stories. Fern was partnered up Francine in Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain. Despite there differences they were able work together to get to the top of the mountain.
 * George Lundgren - Fern and George are seen role-playing in the "Phony Fern". Fern is considered to be friends with all of the main kids in Elwood City, as she is seen hanging out with the main group of friends in "Do You Speak George?".