Relatable Main Characters

Week of June 19—Main Characters

Wednesday, June 22—Relatable Main Characters

As we continue on our main character ARF journey, we now turn to R—relatable.

Jill Santopolo, a children’s book editor and author says, “The two most important things to have in a picture book character are uniqueness and relatability . . . Finding the balance between those two is the trick to a really strong character with potential longevity.”

http://www.ehow.com/how_6128571_create-children_s-book-character.html

On her delightful web site, http://www.memfox.net/welcome.html, author Memo Fox writes: “A good picture book for the young child has . . . characters whom readers care about deeply.”

To me, there are four ways for readers to relate to a main character:

1.      I can relate—I’m like that!

2.      I can relate—I’ve felt that way, too!

3.      I can relate—I know someone like that!

4.      I can relate—I want to be like him/her!

An author may write a book with one of the four approaches in mind, but the reader may relate to the main character in a different way. As a matter of fact, get a group of readers in a room and they may each relate to a main character in a different way. But the key is for those readers to relate. Let’s look at some examples of relatability. Read the following excerpts and see in which way you relate. (After all three, I’ll tell you my feelings.)

Avery kicked the toe of his boot in the dirt. He looked at everyone else at Cowboy Camp and knew he was all wrong. His belt buckle was too big. His hat was too small. His boots were too red. Even his name was wrong. The other boys had tough names, like Hank or Jimmy Jean. Whoever heard of a cowboy named Avery? he thought.

From: Cowboy Camp by Tammi Sauer and Mike Reed

Relatability Quiz

r A. I can relate—I’m like that!

r B. I can relate—I’ve felt that way, too!

r C. I can relate—I know someone like that!

r D. I can relate—I want to be like him/her!

MEAN JEAN was Recess Queen

and nobody said any different.

Nobody swung until Mean Jean swung.

Nobody kicked until Mean Jean kicked.

Nobody bounced until Mean Jean bounced.

If kids ever crossed her,

she’d push ‘em and smoosh ‘em,

lollapaloosh ‘em,

hammer ‘em, slammer ‘em,

kitz and kajammer ‘em.

From: The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill and Laura Huliska-Beith

Relatability Quiz

r A. I can relate—I’m like that!

r B. I can relate—I’ve felt that way, too!

r C. I can relate—I know someone like that!

r D. I can relate—I want to be like him/her!

I like being fancy.

My favorite color is fuchsia.

That’s a fancy name for purple.

I like to write my name with a pen that has a plume.

That’s a fancy way of saying feather.

And I can’t wait to learn French because everything in French sounds fancy.

Nobody in my family is fancy at all.

They never even ask for sprinkles.

From: Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Relatability Quiz

r A. I can relate—I’m like that!

r B. I can relate—I’ve felt that way, too!

r C. I can relate—I know someone like that!

r D. I can relate—I want to be like him/her!

Ok, it’s time to share our answers to the Relatability Quizzes . . . and I have good news. There are no right or wrong answers. As long as you related, your answer is correct.

Most people probably answered B to the Cowboy Camp quiz. Haven’t we all felt like Avery, even if we’ve never attended Cowboy Camp? We can relate. (Some of you might be at Cowboy Camp right now and may have answered A. To you we say, “Rock on Buckaroo!”)

The Recess Queen quiz probably got a lot of C votes. But again, some people may have answered A. We salute your honesty and suggest you get some therapy.

I’m interested to know how you voted on the Fancy Nancy quiz. Maybe you are A., just like Fancy Nancy. Maybe you have B., felt like Fancy Nancy. (If not about being fancy, about something else that identifies you, but that doesn’t identify your family or those close to you.) Maybe it was C., because you know a Fancy Nancy or D., because your deepest desire is to be a Fancy Nancy. Either way, you related.

One other word we need to add to relatability is likeability. If you’re character isn’t likeable, who cares if someone can relate? Even ole Mean Jean is likeable. Perhaps it’s the way she’s drawn, maybe it’s the way she changes at the end of the story, maybe it’s because we know deep in that mean heart is a little girl.

Our challenge is to make unique, relatable, likeable main characters. Can we do it? Give me a big, “OH, YEAH!”

It’s Your Turn!

1. Search through some of your favorite picture books. Explore the main characters you find and analyze what the author has done to make those characters relatable (and unique and likeable, too).