POETIC DEVICE: UNDERSTATEMENT

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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Understatement is a poetic device that is the opposite of hyperbole or overstatement. By simplifying and holding back the written text, spare wording will draw the reader in closer.
​I’ll use two different picture books to showcase effective uses of this device.

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​​In RUMBLE AND ROAR, Sound Around the World by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Khoa Le, Fleiss uses spare text to describe nature’s music from morning to night. Just five carefully selected sound words paint the scene on this lovely spread in the book. Simple and beautiful:

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Crunch
Snap
Squawk and flap

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​In the picture book BIG AND SMALL AND IN-BETWEEN by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Daniel Miyares, Higgins celebrates a myriad of different-sized things and moments that we collect in this lyrical reflection. 

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​The book is divided into three sections: big things, in-between things, and small things. Enjoy the spare text and art from this spread from the book’s “in-between things” section. Simple, lyrical and lovely:

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a BOAT below the sky
and above the swell
 

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Can you think of a way to use understatement and simplify something in your current work-in-progress? Perhaps less really is more! Enjoy adding this technique to your toolbox.
 
by Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor
 
 

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