How to use this Page

A weekly column from children’s author Simon Rose

Children as Heroes

In your children’s science fiction or fantasy novel, even if the setting is in a different time period, in outer space or in a world completely unlike our own, it is imperative that the young characters in the story overcome their adversaries through their own efforts and find solutions to the problems and obstacles they encounter.

Adult characters can certainly appear in the book, and even assume very large roles in the story, but the main character or characters have to succeed by using their own abilities, even if they are young children. Think about some of the stories you are familiar with. In Peter Pan, the children are taken from their London home to Neverland and face grave danger, but there are no adults to help them solve the issues that they face.

In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the two brothers and two sisters find themselves in a strange land in the grip of evil and are even expected to act as kings and queens. They do get help from Aslan, of course, but Peter still has to command a large army and also faces the possibility of death at the hands of the evil witch.

Harry Potter frequently confronts grown ups who wish him harm and his relentless enemy throughout the series is an adult. He gets help from Dumbledore, certain teachers, his godfather and others at various stages, but usually works things out for himself or in partnership with people his own age, even against the deadly Lord Voldermort.

In any number of children’s stories you are familiar with, the pattern will be similar, if not identical. To maintain the tension and hold the reader’s interest, the main character or characters have to be in some form of danger, even in the reader strongly suspects that the heroes will win in the end.