Or a talking animal of any description, ideally cat, dog, owl, badger or monkey, think of the tales they'd tell, and what sort of accent they'd have. Would a German Shepherd have a rough pinehurst accent if that's where it grew up, or would it talk with a german twang.
you could always get a singing mouse.
http://www.physorg.com/news7760.htmlpersonally I'd like one that does a bit of robert johnson type blues - "I woke up this morning, my cheese was gone", something like that