The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is where the puppets live, along with a
few grown-ups who are kind enough to treat them as neighbors. Children who
are new to the program sometimes need help keeping everybody straight, and so
do some parents, so here is my guide. I have stuck to what anyone can see on
the program. If I've gotten something wrong, please write and tell me, and
I'll fix it.
Almost all of the puppets are worked and voiced by Mister Rogers himself.
Watch King Friday and Daniel talking to each other some time and remember
that it's one man doing both. It is a kind of miracle.
| Getting there |
| The Trolley |
A little red trolley that runs along a track through Mister Rogers' living room and into a tunnel in the wall. It doesn't speak, but it rings its bell and toots, and it rolls back and forth when it's impatient, and somehow everyone in Make-Believe understands it perfectly. My children hold their breath every time it goes into the tunnel. |
| At the castle |
| King Friday XIII |
The king of Make-Believe. He likes rules, ceremony and very long words, and he can be stubborn and a bit pompous. But when somebody shows him he's wrong, he listens, and he changes his mind, which is more than many real grown-ups manage. One of the first Make-Believe characters, from The Children's Corner days. |
| Queen Sara Saturday |
King Friday's wife. Calm, sensible and kind, and very often the one who helps the king see reason. |
| Prince Tuesday |
Their son. Curious and full of questions, like every child I've ever taught. |
| Lady Aberlin |
King Friday's niece, played by Betty Aberlin, a real person. She is like a big sister to the puppets. She talks with Daniel so gently, and she never laughs at anybody's worries. I have tried to copy the way she listens. |
| Handyman Negri |
The king's handyman, who fixes things and plays the guitar. He is played by Joe Negri, a jazz guitarist from right here in Pittsburgh. |
| Around the Neighborhood |
| Daniel Striped Tiger |
My favorite, and the favorite of almost every shy child I have ever known. Daniel is a small, gentle tiger who lives in a clock and wears a wristwatch. He worries, and he says so, and the grown-ups take his worries seriously. When Daniel asks a question, it is nearly always the very question a three-year-old is too shy to ask out loud. |
| Lady Elaine Fairchilde |
She lives in the Museum-Go-Round, she is bossy and outspoken, and she is always stirring something up, sometimes with a magic boomerang that can turn the whole Neighborhood upside down. She argues with King Friday. Children adore her because she says the things they're not supposed to say. But she isn't mean underneath, and she always ends up a neighbor. |
| X the Owl |
A cheerful, eager owl who lives in the big oak tree. He admires Benjamin Franklin more than anybody and wants to learn everything. He has a terrible time making up his mind, which my children find very funny and very familiar. |
| Henrietta Pussycat |
X's neighbor, who lives in a little yellow schoolhouse in the same tree. She speaks in a mixture of words and meows, and she can be timid and sometimes jealous. Every year at least one of my children decides to speak only Henrietta for a week. We allow it. |
| Corney |
He runs the factory that makes rocking chairs, and he is very proud of them. |
| Grandpere |
A French tiger who lives in his own Eiffel Tower. He speaks French, which means that some of my children went home last year insisting they could speak French too. |
| The Platypus family |
Dr. Bill and Elsie Jean Platypus and their daughter Ana, who live in a mound. A platypus is a real animal, which surprises some parents more than it surprises the children. |
| Bob Dog |
A friendly, excitable dog whose enthusiasm sometimes gets ahead of him. Every class has a Bob Dog. |
| Back in the real neighborhood |
| Mr. McFeely |
The delivery man, played by David Newell, always in a terrible hurry and always bringing something interesting, very often a tape that shows how something is made. McFeely was Mister Rogers' mother's family name. |
| Chef Brockett |
He runs the bakery. See my remarks about dough on the front page. |
| Officer Clemmons |
The neighborhood policeman, played by François Clemmons, who is also a wonderful singer. A friendly police officer is a very good thing for a small child to meet on television. |
A tip for teachers: when a child in your class is having a hard time,
ask which Make-Believe neighbor feels like they do today. A child who can't
say "I'm scared" can often say "I'm Daniel." It's a start.
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