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MOWMT March 11: Bonnie Kelso Makes More Merry

The More the Merrier: Managing Many Characters

By Bonnie Kelso


Many might say, the more the merrier! But does that apply to writing a picture book? For a challenge, try writing a story with many characters. Even if you stick to one MC, that doesn’t mean you can’t develop a rich and diverse set of secondary characters, all within the limited word count of a picture book. It may be challenging to portray many characters in your story, but I encourage you to give it a try using some of the strategies as found in these mentor texts. 



Give each character a unique background story through carefully crafted introductions.

Islandborn written by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa does this magnificently. For example, this is how one secondary character is introduced. “Matteo had lived in a desert so hot even the cactus fainted.” Junot gives each character a clever introduction so that we learn enough about them to make them important to the story. I counted over 23 characters, but there is a hierarchy to them all with the MC, Lola, at the tippy top. There are about six other characters who are brought in and out of the story more than once, with the remaining characters introduced in unique ways. The end result is that you get the sense that the story is about a whole community. Even the island itself becomes a character, as well as the sinister monster, which ultimately brings a deeper context to the story.


Make your secondary characters unlimited by referring to them as a group. In Oh No, The Aunts Are Here written by Adam Rex and illustrated by Lian Cho, the main character is overwhelmed by a hoard of loving relatives. The text always refers to them as “the aunts,” so there could be two or twenty-two. Adam left it to the illustrator to decide how many were drawn into the story. Personally, I wanted to see more than four, but regardless, it is a charming book and a clever way to write in a whole extended cast of characters with similarities. Imagine trying this technique in a story about a truck full of kittens. Okay, go write, because I desperately want to illustrate that one! 



Skip the MC completely. That’s what author-illustrator Meghan McCarthy does in Action! How Movies Began. Often in nonfiction, you will follow a main character as they achieve something, but when it comes to the movies, there are just too many characters from history that made them what they are today. Meghan highlights many of these people by keeping the focus on the journey of moviemaking itself. The narrative adeptly links one character to the next and the illustrations help keep it all organized by highlighting these characters with call outs and close-ups. A must read for movie fans. 


Write a series and let your many characters evolve over several books. You might remember The Day The Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. Did you know there are now eleven books in the series with probably more on the way? The original book did a great job of assigning personalities to all the colors through a strong use of voice. In the newer books, they’ve started introducing even more characters, like Chunky Toddler Crayon and Glow In The Dark Crayon to keep the series fresh and funny. 





Let your characters build in a cumulative way.

My book, Sea Smiles, has eight characters, and one could argue, a potential ninth character being the reader. I begin the story with the main character who is a little girl. Then each new character comes in one at a time (without leaving) until the book ends. The fun in this strategy, is to have the different character’s personalities shine through their interactions with one another. Also, because the book has a graphic novel illustration style, I used different fonts and text colors to help differentiate who is speaking. This helps to keep all of the characters organized on the page. 


I hope you find the courage to write many characters into your next picture book. Readers will be able to find parts of themselves represented in one or more. Portraying lots of characters builds a sense of belonging within your story, and in a post pandemic world, community and connection are more important than ever. So have some fun casting a picture book with many diverse and interesting characters. 


PRIZE: Bonnie Kelso will be giving away a 20-Minute Ask Me Anything or Custom Kidlit Portrait!


Bonnie Kelso is the author illustrator of Sea Smiles and Nudi Gill: Poison Powerhouse of the Sea, both published by Gnome Road Publishing. She loves everything in the ocean, except the pollution. She is represented by Liz Nealon at Great Dog Literary. You can learn more about her and her work online at: 



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