Jen Robinson's Book Page: 175 Cool Boys from Children's Literature

Poetry Friday: Knights and Ladies

My Last Post on the WSJ Article

175 Cool Boys from Children's Literature

July 28, 2006

The Jen Robinson's Book Page list of Cool Boys from Children's Literature is, thanks to the many comments and suggestions, now 175 strong. I'm publishing the current list here, because it's much easier to read that way than when it's broken into separate posts. However, I hesitate to call the list complete, because I suspect that other suggestions may continue to trickle in. Who knows? Maybe the Cool Boys will even catch up with the Cool Girls over time. But for now, I hope that you're able to enjoy the adventures of the many brave, smart, intrepid, and funny boys on this list.

Many, many thanks to everyone who contributed to the list, and especially to those who took the trouble to write about it. Be sure to also check out the list of Cool Teachers being maintained at A Year of Reading. Happy reading!

Aaron from The Fallen quartet by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Alec Ramsay from The Black Stallion (and sequels) by Walter Farley
Alex Rider from the series (starting with Stormbreaker) by Anthony Horowitz
Alfred Kropp from The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey.
Almanzo from Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Andrew (Ender) Wiggin from Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Andy from Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty
Andy from the Andy Russell series (e.g. The Many Troubles of Andy Russell) by David A. Adler
Art from The Invisible Detective series (Double Life, Shadow Beast, etc.) by Justin Richards.
Artemis from Artemis Fowl from the series by Eoin Colfer.
Arthur Duncan from the Maida books (Maida's Little Shop, etc.) by Inez Haynes Irwin.
Arthur in The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
Arthur P. from the Keys of the Kingdom series (starting with Mister Monday) by Garth Nix
Atreyu from The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.
Barnaby from Anatopsis by Chris Abouzeid
Bastian Balthazar Bux from The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.
Bean from Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Ben from Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Benny and Henry from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Billy from Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Billy from the Billy And Blaze series by C.W. Anderson
Bobby Pendragon from the Pendragon series (starting with The Merchant of Death) by D. J. MacHale.
Boris, er, Morris (from Freaky Friday and A Billion for Boris by Mary Rodgers)
Boy 412 from Magyk by Angie Sage
Bran from The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
Brian from Hatchet, Brian's Winter, etc. by Gary Paulsen
Bud Caldwell from Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis.
Charles Wallace Murray from A Wrinkle in Time (and sequels) by Madeleine L'Engle.
Charlie Ashanti from Lionboy and sequels by Zizou Corder.
Charlie Bone from the Children of the Red King Series (starting with Midnight for Charlie Bone) by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
Cody from the series (e.g. Hey, New Kid!) by Betsy Duffey
Curdie from The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
Danny from Danny, the Champion of the World (Puffin Novels) by Roald Dahl
Danny from Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard
David from The Boy Who Lost His Facee by Louis Sachar
David from Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
David/The Boy/The Invisible Boy from The Gawgon and the Boy by Lloyd Alexander
Dickon from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Dink from A to Z Mysteries series (e.g. The Bald Bandit) by Ron Roy
Doon Harrow from The City of Ember and The People of Sparks by Jeanne Duprau
Edek B. & Jan from Escape from Warsaw (Original title: The Silver Sword) by Ian Serraillier
Edmund Pevensie (only in Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) by C. S. Lewis
Edward Cullen from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
Emil from Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kaestner
Encyclopedia from Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol.
Eragon from the Eragon trilogy from the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini.
Eric and Neal from the Secrets of Droon series by Tony Abbott
Eugenides from The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
Felix Piloto from Free Baseball by Sue Corbett.
Finn from Flight of the Doves by Walter Macken.
Finn from The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson.
Fletcher Moon from Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer.
Florin from Mimus by Lilli Thal
Frank and Joe Hardy from the Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon.
Fritz, Franz, Jack, and Ernest, the brothers from The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Gregor from the Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles) books by Suzanne Collins.
Hans Brinker from Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge
Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.
Haroun from Haroun and the Sea of Storiesby Salman Rushdie
Harry Potter from the series by J. K. Rowling.
Harvey from Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
Henry from Henry Huggins from the series by Beverly Cleary.
Henry from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Henry from Henry and Mudge series (starting with Henry And Mudge First Book) by Cynthia Rylant
Homer Price from Homer Price, Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Hubie from The Teacher from the Black Lagoon and sequels by Mike Thaler and Jared Lee (illustrator)
Huck Finn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Indigo Casson from Saffy's Angel (and sequels) by Hilary McKay's.
Jack from the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne
Jack from the Prowlers quartet by Christopher Golden
Jack Henry from the Jack stories (e.g. Jack's Black Book) by Jack Gantos.
Jacob Two-Two, from Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang and others by Mordecai Richler
James Bond from Silverfin by Charles Higson.
James from James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Jamie from From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.
Jason from Rules by Cynthia Lord
Jeffrey from the The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee from Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.
Jella from The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
Jemmy and Prince Brat (Horace) from The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Jess Aarons from Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.
Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Joe from Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight
Joey Pigza from Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key and others by Jack Gantos
John and Roger from Swallows and Amazons and the sequels
John Gaunt from The Akhenaten Adventure (Children of the Lamp series) by P. B. Kerr.
Johnny from Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.
Jon from The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key
Jonah Wish from Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole.
Jonas from The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Jonathan inThe Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh
Juan de Pareja from I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Burton De Tevio
Julian Jarman from Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Ken from My Friend Flicka and Green Grass of Wyoming by Mary O'Hara
Kit from the Young Wizards series (starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard ) by Diane Duane.
Klaus Baudelaire from the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket
Larry from The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
Laurie from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Lewis Barnavelt from The House with a Clock in Its Walls (and sequels) by John Bellairs
Lief from the Deltora Quest series (starting with The Forests of Silence) by Emily Rodda
Luke from the Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Mario from The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Mark Severson from Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Alden R. Carter
Matt and Attean from The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Matt Cruse from Airborn and Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel.
Matthew Martin from the series (starting with Everyone Else's Parents said Yes) by Paula Danziger
Max from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Merlin from the Young Merlin Trilogy (starting with Passager) by Jane Yolen
Merry Brandybuck The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (Not so much at the beginninng of the book, but he improves.)
Mowgli from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Nate from the Nate the Great series by Marjorie Sharmat
Nathaniel Bowditch from Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Nathaniel from The Bartimaeus Trilogy (starting with The Amulet of Samarkand) by Jonathan Stroud.
Neville Longbottom from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling
Nicholas from Master Skylark by Jonn Bennett
Nick from Frindle by Andrew Clements.
Nick from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Nicky from The Raft by Jim LaMarche
Noah Gershom from The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsberg
Oliver from Oliver's Must-Do List by Susan Taylor Brown
Oliver from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Oliver from Pond Scum by Alan Silberberg
Oliver Melendy from The Saturdays and sequels by Elizabeth Enright.
Omri and Little Bear from The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Pagan Kidrouk from Pagan series (starting with Pagan's Crusade) by Catherine Jinks
Parker from The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
Pepito (aka the Bad Hat) from the Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans
Percy Jackson from The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.
Peter from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (also cool as portrayed by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson in Peter and the Starcatchers).
Peter Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny from The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
Pinocchio Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Pip from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Pippin Took The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
Ponyboy from The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream as portrayed in the Sisters Grimm series (starting with The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives - Book #1) by Michael Buckley
Ralph from The Mouse and the Motorcycle and sequels by Beverly Cleary.
Ralph from the autobiographical Little Britches series (starting with Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers) by Ralph Moody
Robbie from Leaving Protection by Will Hobbs
Robbie Hewitt from Preacher's Boy by Katherine Patterson
Robin from The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Robin Hood from The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green or The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.
Rowan from the Rowan of Rin series by Emily Rodda
Rudy from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Rush Melendy from The Saturdays and sequels by Elizabeth Enright
Sam Beaver from The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Sam Gamgee The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
Scipio from The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
Simon & Jared Grace from The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Smith from Smith by Leon Garfield
Snipp, Snapp and Snurr, the three Swedish brothers from the books (e.g. Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered Bread) by Maj Lindman
Stanley Yelnats from Holes by Louis Sachar.
Stuart from Stuart Little by E. B. White.
Taran from The Prydain Chronicles (starting with The Book of Three) by Lloyd Alexander
Tien Pao from The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
Tom Brown from Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes
Tom Canty and Edward Tudor, from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Tom D. Fitzgerald (The Great Brain) from the series by John D. Fitzgerald.
Tom Sawyer from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
Tony Malone from Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key.
Travis from Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
Turner Buckminster from Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt.
Vince from Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
Will Parker from The Tripods series by John Christopher.
Will Parry from the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman.
Will Stanton from The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.
William from The Castle in the Attic and The Battle for the Castle by Elizabeth Winthrop
Zack from The Zack Files (starting with My Great-grandpa's in the Litter Box) by Dan Greenburg and Jack E. Davis
Zane from Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Zed Malakov from The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson