Over at The Broke and the Bookish today’s theme is Top Ten Characters We Wish We Could Check in With. My family came up with this list pretty quickly — here are some characters we would love to see more of and find out what happened to them after the story ended. What characters would you like to know more about? Anyone you’d like to check in with?
Links and covers go to Amazon — and they’re all affiliated links — but you can find these books at Worldcat.org or Indiebound.org, too!
1. Floyd and everyone involved in Stuck by Oliver Jeffers.
I think Floyd’s parents might want to talk with him about throwing whales, houses, and firefighters into a tree. Did physicists come and see if there were any strange fluctuations in gravity? Did college recruiters come and check out Floyd’s arm and try to recruit him? With an arm like that, he could throw anything! I bet Floyd’s parents were both a bit horrified and a bit proud of him.
2. Max from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
In 2012, the book celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary. Max must have been what, four or five in the story? That would make Max about 57 or 58 today. What’s he doing now? What did he end up being? Did he ever go back? Did the monsters miss him? Did they find a new child to make their king?
3. Madeline from Madeline by Ludwig Belmelmans
Madeline was always a spunky one and I always wanted to be like her. I wonder what she ended up doing with her life. This book was originally written in 1934. If Madeline was six when this book written — that would make her about 87 today. I bet she would still be one spunky little old lady. For whatever reason, I image she would have a killer garden and probably still be working in whatever awesome job she chose.
4. Monster from The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell
I love this story so much. How is he doing? What other kinds of adventures does he get to go on? Are there jelly doughnuts involved? Are there even more moments of serene and transcendental gratitude? I’d love to think there are!
5. Iggy Peck from Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts
Iggy Peck was seven at the time this book was written in 2007 — so he would be 14 or 15 now. I wonder what he’s doing? Did he start his own architecture firm? Create videos and lectures for Khan Academy? Run his own Kickstarter campaign for some amazing thing he built? I wonder if he goes to college or if he skips it and just starts his own company. It’s fun to image what this guy would be doing now.
6. Manuelo from Manuelo The Playing Mantis by Don Freeman
Manuelo befriends a spider and they start their own band. I wonder if they keep it up! Do they go on tour? Does he stick with the cello or also try out other instruments? When I asked my son if there were any characters he’d like to check in with — Manuelo was his immediate response.
7. Otto from Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear by Tomi Ungerer
This is one of our favorite books ever. It’s very powerful. This book is what finally got through to my son that war is a serious venture and should not be taken lightly. Otto tells us about his life and about surviving World War II. He was even shot and saved another solider in the process! Where does he go next? Who is his next family?
8. The Girl from Wild by Emily Hughes
Last we saw of this little girl she was naked in the woods, hanging from a tree, just chilling with the animals. I hope whatever she’s doing she’s happy and enjoying her life.
9. Sam and Dave from Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
So the story leaves us with Sam and Dave in a parallel universe? an alternate reality? underneath the ground? Do they ever get back home? Do they want to? How do they do it? Do they ever get one of those diamonds they keep missing?
How about the dog? Do they ever listen to him? He seems to be one awesome dog.
10. Zita from Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
My son asks when we’re getting the next Zita all. the. time. I keep having to tell him that there are only going to be three Zita books. He’s always disappointed. We often do make up Zita stories and imagine what she might be doing right now.
Go check out more Top Ten Lists at The Broke and The Bookish! They’re an awesome group with wonderful reviews of all kinds of books.
Where Obtained: Public or Personal Library. Wild was sent to me for review by the publisher.
FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
They all look wonderful
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Thank you!
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Great list. Yes, I’d like to hear what happened to Max, Madeline, and Sam and Dave.
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My family has enjoyed thinking about all of the different possibilities and scenarios.
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That’s a fun perspective, thinking about how the characters would be in terms of actual time that’s passed since original publication–as opposed to just “what happened after the end of the book”? And seriously, what on earth happens with Sam & Dave . . . although I love the inconclusiveness of the ending.
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It’s been a lot of fun to ponder! We all really enjoy inconclusive endings, too. It has led to a lot of fun games of “what ifs” and has certainly spurred a lot of fun storytelling sessions at our house!
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I am a huge Tomi Ungerer fan. Thrilled to see Otto made your list.
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We’re big fans, too. Isn’t Otto amazing? What a good book. 🙂
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Looks like some great finds here! Some I’m familiar with and a couple of new ones, thanks! Also would you send me an email, I’ve been asked to write the Illustrator Tips Article for my local SCBWI Prairie Wind Newsletter. I’m writing an article on inspirational blogs to follow, and would like to include you in my review.
My email: mkogan@mdandmk.com, thanks Michelle
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Sending you an email now. Thank you for including me!
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There are some great books on this list and I’m definitely curious to see what ended up happening with some of these characters.
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Reblogged this on newTeachrtips and commented:
It is interesting to see many new characters and books! Students benefit from talking about and relating to the characters in the stories. I have been wondering about doing book studies with character focuses because it could be fun to dig deeper into the characters!
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The half of these books that I know, I love 🙂 I’m all over STUCK, MADELINE and SAM & DAVE! 🙂
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They are great ones! 🙂
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Great post! Madeleine was the first book I read by myself and a stable of my childhood. I feel like we were little girls together and would love to see how she grew up – there’s always the concern that it would disappoint though. Maybe it’s safer to suspend them in childhood and take ourselves back there?
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I laughed so hard that Floyd from Stuck was the first one mentioned. Indeed. Did they ever get down? 🙂
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Reblogged this on sam tumblin favorite artists.
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A wonderful writing and art activity for students- pick their favorite story and write/illustrate the next adventure. I’ve done this with students with simply a detailed illustration- they love it and I get divergent, creative responses. Furthermore, it makes me think *why I would want to know what happened to them. If we can understand how the writer got us to care, we can infuse that into our own writing.
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You have one of my favourite books on this list! As a teacher, ‘Otto’ is the perfect way of introducing children to a time in history that is horrific to try and explain!
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