The House Calls blog will be taking a break for the summer! But before we say, "See you later, Alligator!", we'd like to share a few rhyming/lyrical picture books for you to enjoy this summer. Each Rhyme Doctor has chosen two books -- one of their own books, plus another favorite.

Michelle's book, A Place for Rain, illustrated by Blanca Gómez (Norton Young Readers, 2024) focuses on pouring rains, stormwater runoff, and the plans to build a rain garden to constructively deal with all of the rain. Although the story is primarily set in springtime, the theme also fits the "gullywasher" storms on summer days in Illinois, where Michelle grew up, 

A favorite of Michelle's is From Park to Playa: the Trails That Connect Us, by Nell Cross Beckerman, illlustrated by Sophie Diao (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2024). In addition to being a poet, Michelle is a nature-lover and hiker, so this book speaks to her. She says:

Doesn't this spread just make you want to build a bonfire and roast some marshmallows?

Eileen's brand-new book, Build a Sandcastle, illustrated by Manica Musil (Reycraft Books, 2025) is a perfect book for summer! Building a sandcastle is a rite of summer for beach-going children. Eileen combines a rhyming story with factual sidebars that add STEM information about sand and building. The charming fabric illustrations give the book a whimsical feel. Eileen spends a lot of time on the beaches of Florida and has built many sandcastles of her own!

Eileen's second choice is another book about construction, creativity, and imagination -- Everything You Need for a Treehouse by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Emily Hughes (Chronicle Books, 2018). NPR named it a Best Book of the Year, describing it this way:
"Get ready for your imagination to explode! Everything You Need for a Treehouse is all about seeing something that's not there and imagining your world as you want it to be." Here's what Eileen loves about it:

This would certainly be OUR dream treehouse!

Patricia wishes that every summer involved travel! Her very first book, All Aboard the London Bus, illustrated by Sam Usher (Frances Lincoln Children's Books/Quarto Kids, 2017), was written as a tribute to one of her favorite cities. The collection of 24 poems follows a family as they tour London in a double-decker bus. Patricia especially enjoyed playing with a wide variety of poetic forms in the book, like this collection of haiku about the British Museum.

Sticking with a summer travel theme (with a bus!), Patricia chose for her second book I Am La Chiva!:the Colorful Bus of the Andies, by Karol Hernández, illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gómez (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024). This story, written in a bouncy, rhyming text, follows the travels of a Colombian bus as it picks up more and more passengers. Patricia says:

The Rhyme Doctors hope you will enjoy reading these books and many more during your summery days. Best wishes for productive writing days, and we look forward to sharing more posts with you after our break!

​~ the Rhyme Doctors

​Here at the Rhyme Doctors, we’re big fans of mentor texts. Studying published picture books while working on your own picture book is a great way to gain all sorts of insights, from fresh ways to approach a topic to unexpected structural strategies. That’s why we suggest specific mentor texts to clients. And it’s why we use mentor texts ALL THE TIME while writing our own picture books.

When the Rhyme Doctors work with clients, we urge them 1) to polish meter to flow consistently and smoothly and 2) to use true (exact) rhymes. Recently, two picture books have hit the market that ignore the second part of this advice. They rhyme properly in some places but not in other spots. This was hardly done in error -- the authors did so on purpose, and to wonderful effect!

​If you’ve been a  subscriber to the Rhyme Doctors’ HOUSE CALLS newsletter for the past few years, you’ve seen my posts about using poetic devices in your projects. (See archives on our website in the House Calls Blog, Poetry Prescriptions files.) I adore poetic devices, those tools we use to create rhythm, strengthen meaning, and establish a mood in our writing. They can help us build a stronger connection to readers, too. 

Usually, the Rhyme Doctors' Mentor Text posts share picture book and poetry collection titles that you can study and learn from. But today, we're stepping away to share the craft books we keep on our own shelves that educate and inspire us. We hope you will find them helpful in your own writing journeys.

I'm back again sharing more insights about writing poetry for the children's magazine market. We're continuing our discussion with Heidi Bee Roemer, poet extraordinaire, and author of over 450 magazine poems plus ten children's books.