Publishing a Sequel to Your Classbook: Ideas Inspired by 6 Famous Sequels

In some ways, it may seem easier to just start over from scratch with a new topic, new direction altogether. But publishing a sequel to last year’s classbook is simpler than you might think, especially when you look to the classics for inspiration.

These six sequel ideas take inspiration from famous sequels in well-known children’s literature, and they’re just the thing to get both you and your students excited for your own follow-up to last year’s blockbuster of a classbook, even if it’s with a brand new class!

Inspired by: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

The simplest way to create a sequel is to ask one simple but profound question: “What happens next?” J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a brilliant example of this straightforward strategy—and it’s an example your students can easily emulate with just a little creative thinking.

• Start by having your current students read last year’s book.
• Ask them to imagine what happens next. What consequences might their actions during the first story have over the long term? What kind of adventure would they be likely to embark on next?
• Brainstorm and draft the sequel collaboratively, with each student contributing one paragraph or chapter to the story…
• … or, have them each write their own short story about one character of their choice from the first book.

Inspired by: Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Another way to tackle a classbook sequel is to follow Lewis Carroll down the literary rabbit hole and create a mirror image of last year’s book. There are a number of ways to apply this idea:

• If the previous project was narrative in nature, you can flip the story around and ask: How would the story change if the last thing happened first?
• You could also ask your students to set their new story (or stories) in an actual mirror-world version of the setting in the first book where everything is backwards—even the road signs!
• Or, just as mirrors flip the images they reflect, you can reverse the topic. A “reverse” sequel to a book about growing up, for example, could be a book about childhood memories from your students’ younger years.

Inspired by: The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole

Every field trip The Magic School Bus embarks on is as educational as it is exciting, because every story is a new lesson in disguise. This format is especially ideal for publishing a sequel to an informative writing project—anything with the core goal of teaching something to the reader.

• You can easily create a whole series by tackling different topics within the same subject or theme. If last year’s book was about animals that live in the ocean, this year’s book could be about animals that live on land—or underwater vegetation.
• Similarly, a sequel to a book of fables might teach the same morals with new stories, or it might teach new morals using some of the same characters from the first book.
• You can also transfer the format of last year’s book to a completely new topic, as illustrated in the example below.

Inspired by: The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter

When Beatrix Potter decided to write more books about one of the most beloved bunnies of all time, she didn’t just write about another one of Peter Rabbit’s harebrained adventures. Instead, she kept things fresh by introducing new characters with strong connections to her original protagonist. Your students can do something similar with their own sequel:

• Start by reading the previous book (or books) in your classbook series with your students.
• Instead of simply asking, “What happens next?” ask them to consider who might show up next. Perhaps your original protagonist has an evil twin—or perhaps their long-lost father or mother finally returns home to tell their own story.
• Each student can write from the perspective of a different (new) protagonist…
• … or, they can work together to choose and create a character and write their sequel collaboratively, tackling each section of the story in groups or individually.
• Don’t forget to help them edit their work before sending it in for publication!

Inspired by: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Similar to the previous suggestion, this sequel idea involves continuing the story by shifting the focus of the narrative. However, instead of using a connection to the original protagonists as the common thread throughout the series, this idea relies on the setting to tie it all together. Just as C.S. Lewis continued the Chronicles of Narnia by expanding on the lore and history of Narnia, your students’ sequel can add to the story of the first book by exploring more of the world it took place in.

• Start, as always, by reading the original classbook with your current students.
• Discuss the setting of that book. Where, and when, did it take place?
• Ask them to brainstorm ideas of how they can expand on that world. How did that world look and feel a century ago? How will it be different a hundred years in the future? What other places might exist in that world that haven’t been written about yet?
• Each student may write their own short story or section about a specific place in the world, or you can ask each student to set their story in the same place but at a different point in that world’s timeline. This is the perfect chance to hone, among other things, their descriptive writing skills!

Inspired by: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

When a book doesn’t obviously lend itself to a sequel or a prequel, sometimes the answer is to take a step sideways and change perspective. Instead of writing about what comes before or after your previous classbook, try making your sequel a companion novel that explores the same setting or events from another point of view:

• Read last year’s classbook together as a class.
• Ask your students to take note of supporting and minor characters. How different would the story be when told from their perspective? What things might they see and do that they didn’t get to hear about in the first book?
• Each student may choose a different character to write about, setting their stories at approximately the same time and place…
• … or, they may all write about the same character, each telling the story the way they think that character experienced it.
• Be sure to have your students proofread each other’s work to check for spelling and grammatical errors before publishing!

Once you publish your first classbook, you won’t be able to help it—you’ll want to do it again and again. There’s something so magical about helping students get published and share their stories with a broader audience. Luckily, publishing a book a year is a surprisingly simple tradition to set up. And of course, your students don’t have to be famous writers like J.K Rowling or C.S. Lewis to publish a great sequel. A little inspiration and lots of encouragement from their biggest fan—you!—is often all it takes to spark your students’ creativity.

The best part? You’ll never be bored, and neither will they. No matter how many classbooks you publish, you’ll never cease to be amazed by what imaginative ideas your students will come up with next—and they’ll always surprise themselves by just how much they can accomplish when they put their minds to it.

Looking for even more ideas to make your next classbook project the best one yet? Check out the other free resources available our online teacher’s lounge, and be sure to sign up for your free publishing kit today!