​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.”

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…

​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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​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

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. 

​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

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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