Rhyme Terms: Perfect Rhyme

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In our Rhyme Doctor’s HOUSE CALLS newsletter at the end of 2023, I concluded an 18-month series of blog posts illustrating the use of poetic devices in rhyming or lyrical children’s picture books. Thanks for joining me on that journey! At the start of 2024, I’m delighted to begin a new series focused on rhyme terms and rhyme schemes. I hope that you'll continue along with me . . .

As young children learn at an early age, listening to rhyming text is a uniquely satisfying experience. Lullabies, silly poems, and nursery rhymes all help young listeners develop very important skills, such as:

• building vocabulary
• reinforcing word sounds and patterns
• appreciating the musicality of language
• committing words to memory more easily
• stimulating the imagination
• assisting them in forming connections to the broader world
• providing sensory experiences, and more!

With all of these tremendous benefits in mind, let’s explore the basics of rhyme.

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We’ll begin by taking a closer look at perfect rhyme, also known as strong rhyme, exact rhyme, or true rhyme--this type of rhyme is the gold standard in writing rhyming text. This type of precise rhyme occurs when different consonants are followed by identical vowel and consonant sounds, such as: send / bend; face / chase; sing / ring; and moon / June. Following are some examples of perfect rhyme in children's picture books.

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​One of my favorite rhyming picture books is this lovely title celebrating friendship and the simple joy of helping another—Beth Ferry and The Fan Brothers' award-winner, The Scarecrow.

Let's look at one of the pages to explore Ferry's use of perfect rhyme.

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Take a look at the perfect rhyme pairs noted in purple:

Winter whispers. Velvet snow.
Scarecrow has no place to go.
He dreams of what the spring will bring
of buds and blooms and things that sing.

Ferry weaves many other literary elements in these few lines.  (See if you can spot the alliteration, assonance, consonance, and imagery?)

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​Another picture book favorite is Lisa Wheeler and Loren Long's, Someone Builds the Dream. This marvelous book explores the incredible dedication and work of skilled laborers as they turn an idea into reality! A few pages into the story you'll find this lovely trio of perfect rhymes:

To engineer a bridge takes skill.
Math and science fit the bill,
and I-beams ordered from the mill.

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Did you know this interesting fact? Perfect rhyme is referred to as masculine when the rhyme sounds involve a single stressed syllable (bat / hat). It is called feminine when the rhyme sounds involve two or more syllables (turtle / fertile) that end with a light stress. 

Thanks for allowing me a deep dive into some definitions of rhyme. I'll be back next month with more! Enjoy adding these elements to your writing toolbox.
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--Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor