The Snowman characters

Appears from the start

A boy who wakes to an unusually deep fall of snow and devotes the day to building a snowman. Curious and generous, he equips his creation with borrowed household objects and feels responsible for the visitor who comes to life after dark.

First appears in chapter 2

The large snow figure James builds in the garden, with a face and clothing assembled from objects James finds at home. At midnight he awakens, silently befriends James, and approaches the unfamiliar human world with playful curiosity.

Appears from the start

James's mother, who helps make the snowy day warm and secure indoors while James repeatedly returns to his work in the garden. She is asleep when the night's extraordinary adventure begins.

Appears from the start

James's father, one of the adults whose clothes and belongings help James give the snowman a recognizable personality. Like Mum, he knows nothing of the visitor moving quietly through the house at night.

First appears in chapter 9

The welcoming host of the distant winter gathering reached by James and the Snowman. Surrounded by snowmen and preparations for Christmas, he receives James as an honored guest and gives him a small keepsake before the journey home.