MENTOR TEXT REFERRALS: PICTURE BOOK PARODIES

Parodies are fun! Check out this musical parody by author Sue Fliess:

A parody is "an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect" (Oxford Dictionary). Have you read any picture book parodies? Some are "adult" versions of popular classics, such as GOODNIGHT IPAD. But you'll also find parodies of fairytales, folktales, and nursery rhymes aimed at young audiences.

If you like writing in rhyme, it's an enjoyable exercise to try a parody. Your version doesn't need to be overly comic; picture book parodies often bring smiles with clever twists or use of language. Many picture book parodies have been picked up for publication and can be especially popular as read-alouds.

Let's take a look at the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb. It starts off with a very clear meter, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables:

MA-ry HAD a LIT-tle LAMB
whose FLEECE was WHITE as SNOW
and EV-(e)ry-WHERE that MA-ry WENT
the LAMB was SURE to GO.

The roadmap for rhythm is there for you to follow as you adapt the storyline. Sticking to the meter helps keep the reader grounded in the original rhyme.

These three picture book parodies of Mary Had a Little Lamb set up a new situation for Mary, and then address the question, "What could possibly go wrong here?"

MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMP by Jack Lechner and Bob Staake immediately brings in humor when the opening spread swaps out Mary's loyal lamb for a desk lamp.

The next two spreads give small, specific details that explain Mary's love for her lamp. The author then returns to the original nursery rhyme, as Mary takes the lamp to school with disastrous results. Humor builds as her worried parents seek professional help:

Their doctor said, "I've never seen
So puzzling a condition.
But lamps are not my specialty--
You need an electrician."

(Spare use of unusual vocabulary words can be a big hit with kids because it makes them feel smart!)

Things change when Mary heads off to camp, and the lamp stays behind. She discovers the freedom of being untethered, and returns a changed person...or so we think. When I read this to kids, the twist on the last page brought a burst of laughter.

MARY HAD A LITTLE LAB by Sue Fliess and Petros Bouloubasis gives a STEM twist to the original. Mary loves her science lab and spends all her time there. But that leaves her without friends. To ease her loneliness, she creates a machine to make herself a pet -- a wooly sheep:

She made an apparatus
with pulleys, knobs, and gears.
Then set the switches, pipes, and springs,
and covered both her ears.

Mary takes her pet to school, and the other students want one, too. But the "Sheepinator" jams and the town is overrun with sheep. The kids work together to fix the machine and mount it on wheels -- which cleverly allows the parody to continue:

The kids gain control, and the book ends with them creating items with sheep fleece.

MARY HAD A LITTLE GLAM by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton substitutes Mary's original possession (lamb) with a new characteristic for Mary -- glam! Fashionista Mary heads to school:

Then Mary click-clacked down the block
in frilly formal wear.
And by the time she got to school
she'd added extra flair.

(Note the great alliteration in that stanza!

And here's a bit of Tammi Sauer's talent with internal rhyme and assonance:

Now story time had
gowns and crowns
and mounds of striped chiffon.)

Mary spreads her style tips to students and staff. What could go wrong here? Recess! Mary and her friends learn that "...sometimes less is more!"

This parody has slightly fewer lines that mirror the original rhyme, but illustrations bring in other nursery rhyme characters as a reminder of Mary's origins:

Note Vanessa Brantley-Newton's addition of the school name to support the nursery rhyme setting.

Kids familiar with nursery rhymes will recognize these character names.

​Try writing your own parody, and take a bit of time to study what other authors have done. You're likely to pick up some tips and have a good giggle, too!

***Winners of our Rhyme Doctors giveaway are Amy Houts, Kendra Israel, and Kathleen Bottagaro.  Congratulations! Books are on their way!***

​~Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht