Character Development

Noticing how characters grow and change over a story, and figuring out what caused the change. It helps kids understand people, in books and in real life.

Authors show what a character is like through what they say, do and think, and how other characters react to them. The words we use to describe a character, like brave, stubborn, kind or jealous, are called character traits.

Character development is how a character changes from the beginning of the story to the end. Main characters usually learn something or grow, and noticing that change is often the key to understanding the whole book.

How to teach it at home

Three techniques you can use during any reading session.

  1. Describe, then prove. When a character does something important, ask your child for one word that describes them, like “brave” or “selfish,” and what the character did that shows it.
  2. Track the change. Every few chapters, ask how the main character is different now than at the beginning. A quick note on a bookmark makes it easy to look back.
  3. Ask what caused it. Characters usually change because of a problem, a mistake or another character. Asking “What made them change?” connects the character to what happens in the story.

Questions to ask

These work with almost any book.

  • What word would you use to describe ___? What did they do that shows it?
  • How is ___ different now than at the beginning of the book?
  • What made ___ change their mind?
  • How do the other characters feel about ___? Why?
  • If you were ___, what would you have done?
  • What do you think ___ learned by the end?

If your child gets stuck

  • Flip back to the first chapter together and reread how the character was introduced.
  • Start with actions before traits. “What did she do?” comes before “What kind of person is she?”
  • Compare the character to someone your child knows, or to themselves.
  • It’s fine if your child describes a character differently than you would, as long as they can point to what the character did.

Books for practicing character development

Each of these books has questions about how characters think, act and change.

Holes

by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every…

View book for Holes

Explore other reading skills

See all reading skills →