Quality Characters

Great characters whether they are in books, plays, movies, or on
television have one thing in common... real life qualities that
people can admire. As we work hard to guide our children into becoming thoughtful and useful adults, the books and movies we choose and the characters in those books and movies become especially important. We want them to be entertaining, but we also want them to have qualities we can
relate to, qualities we hope our children will have, and qualities we wish more people around us had.



Take for instance the character Ralph (played by William Katt) in the 80's television series Greatest American Hero.
At first glance Ralph seems a little comical in his long red underwear
and cape, wobbling precariously as he attempts to fly. But upon closer
reflection Ralph has some pretty amazing qualities.



To
begin with, Ralph, who is a teacher by day and hero intermittently
while wearing the red alien suite, truly cares about the students in his
charge. He not only wants them to learn to read and write, he wants
them to learn to respect each other, to dream, and to look to the future. He
also possesses the quality of being able to enjoy the little things in
life like meeting his boyhood hero, The Lone Ranger, or dressing up like a
clown complete with the little red nose. And despite the disruption
both the suite and his partner Maxwell bring to his life, Ralph is
always a loyal friend.





He has a propensity
towards concern and compassion for others and goes out of his way to
encourage his students, fellow teachers, and friends. All of these
qualities...kindness, compassion, concern for others, joy of living,
loyalty, etc... are qualities I hope people see in me. They are also
qualities I would like to instill in my young daughter. I want
her to grow to adulthood able to find the beauty and joy in everyday
life. I want her to strive to make this world a better place simply by
her ability to be kind, patient, loyal and so forth.





Kimmy Curlytail

These are the qualities that I strive to create in my Fern Valley characters. Although my characters are most definitely fictional, I
hope that children will love them and go away wishing to be just like them. I'm
sure they will not say, "Hey I think I will imitate Sammie's work ethic
or Kimmy's kindness." But if  they subconsciously integrate these
qualities into their life, then my characters will have been entertaining and valuable which is the most any author could wish for. What books and characters stand out in your mind as great and worth emulating?



So ends another episode of Kids Korner with me, Children's Author Aileen Stewart. Join me next week for another exciting episode same krazy time, same krazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal blog Aileen's Thoughts any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, and life in general.Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com