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POETIC DEVICE: EPISTROPHE

11/21/2023

 
Over the past eighteen months, we’ve taken a closer look at a variety of poetic devices and we’ll wrap up this series today. (Stay tuned next year for another monthly series about the intricacies of rhyme and meter!) Let’s take a look at the poetic device: Epistrophe
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RIFFS ON HOLIDAY SONGS

11/7/2023

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Rhyme Doctors Logo on a green sled
​The holidays are almost upon us! What better way to get in the holiday spirit than by singing holiday songs and reading holiday-themed picture books? Better yet, why not combine the two?
 
If you’re a children’s author who enjoys writing rhyming and lyrical picture books, holiday songs can provide great inspiration. Using a holiday song as the scaffolding for a picture book provides a built-in rhyme scheme and meter to follow. (I make a similar point about writing bedtime books in this post.)
​The tried-and-true structure of a holiday song can be your starting point, but you’ll need to take your story in a new and fresh direction. As Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht, author of several holiday books including Pick a Pine Tree will tell you, “While publishers are often looking for new holiday books, they only take on a few each year. Your holiday book has stiff competition and must stand out from what's already out there.”
Cover of the picture book PICK A PINE TREE by Patricia Toht showing a snowy forest filled with pine trees.
​Need some inspiration? Let’s look at a few stand out picture books based on holiday songs.
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is a favorite holiday tune. But admit it. After singing about geese-a-laying, fatigue starts to set in, and the song’s only halfway finished! Cumulative songs and stories can get redundant after a while.

Two picture books based on “The Twelve Days of Christmas” that solve this redundancy problem in creative ways are Twelve Dinging Doorbells, by Tameka Fryer Brown, illustrated by Ebony Glenn, and The Twelve Hours of Christmas, by Jenn Bailey, illustrated by Bea Jackson.
Cover of 12 Dinging Doorbells showing a two story orange house filled with dark-skinned relatives and a dark-skinned child answering the door to let more people in.
Cover of The 12 Hours of Christmas showing a dark-skinned girl holding a black kitten in front of a Christmas tree
*Side note: both of these books tell the story of a large family gathering for the holidays. However, each book has a different voice and perspective, making them both unique. This goes to show that there is room for more than one book on a topic!

In Twelve Dinging Doorbells, the story unfolds from the perspective of a child who lets in a new slew of relatives with each ding of the doorbell. From “toddlers squealing” to “brothers repping” to “selfie queens,” the house quickly fills with joy and excitement. One of the elements that makes this book a fun read aloud is Tameka’s use of alliteration. Notice the repetition of “d”, “p” and “s” sounds in this spread to mimic the boisterous activity in the house:
 
At the fourth dinging doorbell
this holiday I see,
four pounds of chitlins,
three posh sibs,
two selfie queens
and a sweet potato pie just for me.
Interior spread of 12 Dinging Doorknobs showing an area view of a holiday table filled with foods.
​In the traditional song, the gift on the fifth day of Christmas is “five golden rings.” Tameka’s clever riff on this is “baked macaroni and cheese.”
Interior spread of 12 dinging doorknobs showing a dark-skinned grandma and auntie holding a casserole dish of steaming macaroni and cheese
​​Still golden, right? But much tastier! To break up the potential redundancy of a cumulative list, Tameka varies how she presents this line. The toddlers start by squealing, “baked macaroni and cheese,” followed by “more macaroni and cheese,” then “lots of macaroni and cheese”, “where’s my macaroni and cheese?” and finally “Who needs macaroni and cheese?”
In The Twelve Hours of Christmas, Jenn Bailey adds layers to her book with a kitten who goes missing and the gift of “jokey books” from Uncle Lee. (Speech bubbles on several pages share jokes from the books.)

​Jenn also successfully avoids the redundancy of a cumulative list. She does this with clever end rhymes and repetition that varies. On each spread, the text starts the same: “In the X hour of Christmas…” From there the statements vary, each ending with a different word that rhymes with “tree.” The first spread sets up the pattern…
Interior spread of THE Twelve Hours of Christmas showing a dark-skinned girl in a holiday sweater smiling at a kitten under a tree.
Jenn uses several creative rhymes for “tree” to help the story progress through the course of the day, from “the twins dress up to be…” to “It’s breakfast! Finally!”, “a snowman-making spree!” and eventually “there goes the family.”
​While “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” is not technically a holiday song, Megan Litwin gives this traditional lullaby a winter twist in Twinkle Twinkle, Winter Night, illustrated by Nneka Myers. Megan really plays up the sensory details in this book, from the flicker of candles in a neighbor’s window, to the crisp, cool night sky.
COver of Twinkle, Twinkle Winter Night with a dark-skinned child in a red coat skating on a pond at night.
One of the elements that makes this book a great mentor text is Megan’s use of poetic devices that enhance sound. Notice how she combines onomatopoeia (hushing, twinkle), alliteration (snowflakes, soundless and show, peaceful and perfect,​ dusting and dressing) and assonance (hushing and dusting, silent and white) to create the soft sounds of a winter night.
Close up of red ice skates
Night scene in a forest with snow-crusted pine trees and a dark-skinned girl smiling as she walks. A deer watches from the distance.
What’s your favorite holiday song? Perhaps you can riff on it in a fun, new way to create the next favorite holiday picture book!

-by Rhyme Doctor Michelle Schaub 
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Poetic Devices: Tricolon

10/17/2023

 
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​It’s time for another blog post about the use of poetic devices in picture book writing. Today, we’ll take a look at a more obscure device: Tricolon
 
Tricolon is a literary device that is made up of three parallel clauses, phrases, or words, which occur in quick succession without interruption. This word originates from the Greek word tricolon, meaning “section of a sentence.” These three parallel words, phrases, or clauses may have almost the same length, though this can vary. What is the purpose of tricolon? It provides a sense of wholeness and completeness, and the third part of the phrasing may even add an element of surprise to the sentence.

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A little look at lyrical books

10/3/2023

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Today, please join me in exploring three lyrical picture books!
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POETIC DEVICE: ENJAMBMENT

9/19/2023

 
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​I’m back with my series of blog posts about the use of poetic devices in picture book writing. We use poetic devices to enhance our written work and create a deeper connection for our reader. Today’s topic: Enjambment
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Jennifer Berne's Tips on Writing RHyming nonfiction

9/5/2023

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Writing a picture book on a complex nonfiction topic can seem like a monumental task. Adding rhyme? That can feel downright formidable. Today's guest blogger, Jennifer Berne, is here to assure you that it can be done... and done well!  In HOW THE SEA CAME TO BE (AND ALL THE CREATURES IN IT), illustrated by Amanda Hall, author Jennifer Berne tackles a vast topic: the entire history of the sea! She does so in an accessible and entertaining way, using rhyming verse. Here are Jennifer's top tips for writing picture books in rhyming verse. 

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POETIC DEVICE: CAESURA

8/15/2023

 
​We use poetic devices to enhance our written work and create a deeper connection for our reader. Today, we’ll take a look at the poetic device: Caesura
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what is it? a riddle rhyme!

8/1/2023

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When I was young, our family owned a big book of nursery and Mother Goose rhymes. I recall being especially fond of the rhymes that were riddles. "Humpty Dumpty" may be the best known of these. Here are a few others that I liked:
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Riddle rhymes are poems that describe something (or someone) without naming it. I tried my own hand at writing some riddles, and these four themed couplets were shared in Ladybug Magazine in March 2014.
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POETIC DEVICE: UNDERSTATEMENT

7/18/2023

 
It’s time for another blog post about the use of poetic devices in picture book writing. Today, we’ll take a look at the poetic device: Understatement
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Celebrate the 4th of July with Rhyme!

6/29/2023

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Happy Fourth of July from the Rhyme Doctors! 

We hope you enjoy lots of lemonade and apple pie this Fourth of July. Oh, and of course, some poetry too! Here are a few of our favorite America-themed rhyming picture books and poetry collections to get you in the holiday groove. 

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    ​THE RHYME DOCTORS!

    We're expert picture book authors. We love providing critiques of rhyming and lyrical picture books. In this blog, we share poetry prescriptions and mentor text referrals to help you get your manuscript in tip-top shape! 

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