wondering about nature - a trio of mentor texts

If you've been writing for a while, you've likely experienced it.

You have a great idea! You brainstorm. You research. You write and rewrite and rewrite again. You pour your heart and soul into your great idea. Then you see in announcement of an upcoming book or pop into a bookstore to discover a new book with the EXACT SAME THEME!

via GIPHY

It's okay to be disappointed. To let your heart break a little. To curse the heavens. But don't let yourself fall into complete despair! There's usually room in the market for more than one book on the same subject. They key is to approach the topic with a different, fresh view.

Between 2020 and 2022, these three beautiful picture books were published, and all focus on the wonders of nature. All three play with the concept of outside vs. inside. All three are written in lyrical language. All are gorgeously illustrated. All are from authors whose books I adore. And all of them found their place in bookstores and libraries and in the hands of readers.

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OUTSIDE IN, by Deborah Underwood and Cindy Derby, is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ©2020. 

Of the three books, this 40-page, 179-word book came out first (2020). It garnered a Caldecott Honor and received multiple starred reviews. Its setting is primarily indoors; it contemplates how nature outside can still impact lives inside. The Outside becomes a character in its own way; it has the ability to vocalize, move, and change. The final spread lures a young girl back outside.

Author Deborah Underwood's writing is sparse and lyrical, but it's not in metered rhyme.
Here's an example:

"Outside feeds us,
Sun, rain, and seeds
become warm bread 
and berries."

Note the poetic devices of internal rhyme of the words feeds/seeds 
and alliteration of become/bread/berries and sun/seeds.

In the above spread from OUTSIDE IN, note more poetic devices:
the alliteration of cuddles/clothes/cotton,
the assonance of cuddles/puffs, and
​the repetition of "once ________" at the end of the sentences.

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WILD PEACE, by Irene Latham and Il Song Na, is published by Roaring Book Press, ©2021

This 40-page, 130-word book came out last year (2021). A slight variation in the theme presents turmoil, both within an enclosed space and within a person's spirit, which is remedied by finding peace in nature. The setting of this book begins inside a home, moves outside to a forest, and then returns in the end to a more peaceful indoor scene.

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Author Irene Latham's text contains rhymed stanzas, but with a looser rhythm. In the middle of the book, she chooses a progression of stanzas that move from four stressed beats to three stressed beats to two, then circles back again to the longer rhythm. This can add interest and slow or speed the pace of reading. The author intersperses some non-rhymed lines, too. I love the wordplay in this spread with the repetition of the word "hop" which is very successful in moving the reader across the spread to the page turn:

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WONDERING AROUND, by Meg Fleming and Richard Jones, is published by Beach Lane Books, ©2022.

​The last of the three (2022), this book has 48 pages and 200 words. The storyline is anchored by a play on words -- "wander" becomes "wonder" as readers are encouraged to explore all aspects of the outdoors. The message is that wondering in the outdoors can stimulate curiosity and creativity within a child. The setting of the book is nearly all outdoors, passing through different environs and seasons, and encountering a variety of wildlife.

Author Meg Fleming uses true rhyme and a strict rhythm in her text. Stanzas are sometimes broken across multiple spreads, which encourages page turns. She very effectively uses a repeating pattern of a longer statement, followed (or sometimes preceded) by three short items. The book opens with this chosen pattern, and has a W alliteration.

After the page turn, these lines complete the rhyme:

"Trace the drops...a dot-to-dot
that makes a secret map."

You'll see more alliteration (D sounds), as well as short O assonance in drops/dot/dot
and the long A assonance of trace/makes.
The lines are paired with an illustration of child and cat peering out a rain-streaked window.
The child is connecting raindrops with a finger.
How clever is that ellipsis in the first line that reflects the "dot-to-dot" of the window map?

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So, take heart, dear writers! Just because a book has already been written about a topic, it doesn't mean you can't explore it as well. Take a deep dive into these three books and see what sets them apart from each other. As Meg Fleming would say, "WONDER!" What can you do to set your book apart? 

~ Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht