POETRY PRESCRIPTION: SIMILE

​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, we’ll take a look at the poetic device: Simile

Simile is a comparison of two dissimilar things, using the words like, than, or as. Similar to a metaphor, the effect of a simile is to:

• make something unfamiliar more familiar
• help the reader visualize something

Fellow Rhyme Doctor Michelle Schaub employs this effectively in her picture book, KINDNESS IS A KITE STRING. Notice how she compares kindness to dominos in this sentence:
 
Kindness runs like dominos,
reach out and tip a tile.
 
This simile plays up the ripple effect of one person’s act of kindness, and that act being duplicated by many other people also doing thoughtful things. I love the visual of a series of standing dominos, tipping and falling in succession, one after another.

You’ll find many examples of this poetic device in John Sullivan’s KITTEN AND THE NIGHT WATCHMAN (illustrated by Taeeun Yoo.)  The author uses simile beautifully and effectively throughout his award-winning book. And notice— the illustrations have so much more possibility with these stellar similes!

Here are a few examples in the spare and elegant text.
 
The full moon shines like an old friend.
 

​Garbage trucks line up like circus elephants.
 

​An excavator bows like a strange giraffe.
(see illustration, right)

​In this final example, author Deborah Ruddell uses simile and metaphor to open the poem “Blue Jay Blues” in her lovely poetry collection, TODAY AT THE BLUEBIRD CAFÉ (illustrated by Joan Rankin).
 
Blue as a bruise on a swollen knee,
ruling the world from a maple tree.
 
What color was the bird?
The author uses a simile to describe the color—a deep, perhaps almost purply blue and many of us have experienced one of those nasty knee bruises during childhood. Very effective!
​Additionally, a metaphor (last month’s blog topic) was used to show the bird “ruling the world” from its perch in the tree. We can envision a regal pose, and the bird looking down on all the other creatures below on the forest floor.  Both of these poetic devices create a memorable image for the reader.

​Can you find a way to use simile effectively in any of your current projects?
​See you next time.
Happy writing!
 
by Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor