Summertime and Rhyme--A Perfect Picture Book Pair: An Interview with Author Eileen Meyer by Julie Phend

 

What's more fun than spending a summer day at the beach creating your own sandcastle? 

BUILD A SANDCASTLE, published this spring by Reycraft Books, is a charming picture book featuring fun rhyming text by Eileen Rajala Meyer and colorful sewn-felt illustrations by Manica Musil. STEM sandcastle-building techniques are offered by an expert starfish (who's seen many a castle collapse in his years on the beach). 

It's my pleasure to welcome author Eileen Rajala Meyer, a former Grog blogger, to talk about the book and give us some expert tips on writing in rhyme.

Julie: Welcome back to the GROG Blog, Eileen. I'm excited to share your new picture book and tips for writing in rhyme with our readers. This book is a rhyming picture book, but it's also a how-to book with STEM components. So: WHY RHYME?

Eileen: Thank you, Julie, for inviting me to share insights about my new picture book, Build a Sandcastle. I came up with the idea for this picture book during the pandemic while walking the beach near my Florida home. I envisioned a book celebrating that favorite summer activity--building a sandcastle. My audience would be young builders at the beach, those in preschool or early elementary grades.

I chose to write in rhyme because young children love it and rhyming picture books picture books promote early literacy. The repetition of sounds and words aids language development. Since my book was about a fun day at the beach, it tone was light-hearted. To match that feeling, I chose a bouncy rhythm (trochaic poetic meter) for the rhyming couplets I was crafting. Considering all those different elements, writing this book in rhythm and rhyme seemed the perfect match for the subject matter, tone, and audience.

So which came first, the rhymed story or the STEM building tips?

Eileen: Great question. I enjoy researching new topics so I read about sand, sandcastle building, and how experts go about crafting sandcastles. During that process, I compiled a list of tips for the book's back matter. The list included things like safety considerations, supplies to bring along, and how to scout the right spot to build a beach masterpiece. In my research, I came across more advanced tips that competitive builders us, such as using nonstick spray to coat the inside of buckets and forms so they slip off seamlessly during the building process. 

As I crafted rhyming couplets for the story, I referred to my research and fine-tuned my age-appropriate tips. So, to answer your question, the rhyming text and sandcastle construction tips evolved together. In early drafts, the STEM construction tips were placed in the back matter. By my final version, that had changed--now a spunky Starfish shares tips on each page spread to aid young creators step by step.

Julie: Editors often say they don't want rhyming picture books. Why not?

Eileen: As you know, I love rhyme! Most of the picture books I've published are written in rhythm and rhyme. I'm part of the "Rhyme Doctors" team, along with fellow children's authors Michelle Schaub and Patricia Toht. Our team writes extensively about different aspects of rhyme on our free biweekly House Calls blog. Sign up at https://www.rhymedoctors.com/  Our posts include discussions about rhyming picture books and mentor text recommendations. In addition, we often dive into writing nitty-gritty, such as the use of poetic devices or understanding poetic meter and scansion. 

Writing in rhythm and rhyme is not an easy task. It's a real challenge to do it well. There are many elements of a rhyming story to get just right right. Are your rhymes inventive and unique? Is your poetic meter consistent, and does it match the tone of your story? Each word in a rhyming picture book manuscript needs to be carefully chosen for the poetic meter scheme, its meaning, and tone. So, when editors say they don't want rhyming picture books, I believe they are really saying: We want rhyming picture books, but please submit projects that are well-written. Your meter is spot on. Your rhymes are unique and interesting. And you've reworked, revised, and refined your project to perfection!

Julie: What are some common pitfalls about working in rhyme?

Eileen: I think the biggest challenge if you want to write a rhymed picture book is understanding poetic meter. Beginners think that writing a rhyming picture book is all about getting the end rhymes right. Of course, that is an important element (using true rhymes and avoiding slant or near rhymes). But in my opinion, what is essential is creating and maintaining a strong rhythmic pattern from start to finish. Of course, that can include meter variations and refrains--but it should be a pattern that's consistent throughout your manuscript. You want read-aloud text where the words flow beautifully.

Understanding poetic meter is is essential when crafting poems and rhyming picture book text. There are four common poetic meters most poets use: iambic and trochaic meter (formed using two-syllable metrical feet) plus anapestic and diactylic meter (formed using three-syllable metric feet). I write about these four meters in my Rhyme Doctor posts, if readers would like to search the archives. Each post provides examples of the meter, defines it, and showcases its use in children's books and poems. 

Excerpt from Build a Sandcastle. Note the rhyming text, Starfish tip, and sewn-felt illustrations.

Julie: Did anything surprise you about the final version of Build a Sandcastle?

Eileen: After the contract was signed and we discussed art, my editor, Sunita Apte at Reycraft Books, suggested mixed media art for the book. I wasn't familiar with that form of illustration and artistry--but I was thrilled with Manica Musil's sewn-felt depictions. (I hadn't previously seen Manica's work since she is from Slovenia and is published outside the U.S.) She's an amazing talent! My favorite spread is one containing the completed sandcastle. The way she created the castle's intricate details with felt, fabric pieces, and stiching is astonishing. She has added beautiful details, such as an orange beach pail that includes a tiny animal. If you look closely, you'll see that the animal's expression changes with each illustration and page turn. A fun surprise! Manica Musil's beautiful sewn-felt artistry really makes this book stand apart. 

Julie: Thank you, Eileen, for this fun and informative post! Good luck with Build a Sandcastle.

Eileen Rajala Meyer writes children's picture books and poetry. Here rhyming ode to a favorite summer activity, Build a Sandcastle, is hitting the shelves now. Her poetry collection, The Superlative A. Lincoln (Charlesbridge Publishing) was a Florida State Book Award Silver Medal winner. Eileen is a member of the Rhyme Doctors team and shares articles about writing poetry and rhyme in a free monthly newsletter. Sign up at https://www.rhymedoctors.com/  

Visit her at EileenMeyerBooks.com 

On Instagram and Blue Sky:@EileenMeyerBooks 

On X: @Writer_Meyer

Lisa Perron Talks About Rhymes and Patterns in Science ~ by Christy Mihaly

Lisa Varchol Perron

If you haven't yet heard about poet/author Lisa Varchol Perron, you will, because she's been working on a bunch of books that are coming out soon. I first got to know Lisa as a gifted poet through Poets' Garage, an online critique group. Now we also have an illustrator in common -- the talented Sheryl Murray (who illustrated my Patience, Patches!) illustrated Lisa's forthcoming book, My Love for You (Little Simon/Simon & Schuster). Meanwhile, Lisa's beautiful Patterns Everywhere (Millbrook), about the natural patterns all around us, is due out April 4. In it, Lisa explores the patterns of nature in rhyme, accompanied by gorgeous photographs and seriously scientific sidebars.

Sample rhyming text: 

Ripples stretch across the beach,

marking where the waves can reach.

Sand responds to water's flow. 

Patterns, patterns come and go. 

I invited Lisa to share her thoughts about poetry, science, and kids' books, some of my favorite topics. Read more on today's post at Archimedes Notebook by Sue Heavenrich. 

GROG: Welcome, Lisa, and congratulations! Tell us how Patterns Everywhere came to be. Did it start out in rhyme?

Lisa: Thank you so much, Christy. Patterns Everywhere began on a family hike. My husband ( a geoscientist) was pointing out patterns in the landscape to our daughters. 

I wrote it in rhyme from the get-go. Rhyming, metered verse has an expected pattern of stressed beats and end rhymes, so it felt like a natural fit.  

GROG: That's a great reason for this book to be rhyming, Lisa. Tell us how you write in rhyme -- and why.

Lisa: One of the biggest challenges is integrating the facts while keeping the verse natural. I enjoy jigsaw puzzles, and I get a similar feeling when piecing together a rhyming book, especially nonfiction. When writing nonfiction in rhyme, I start out with the topic and then decide what I want the tone and feel of the book to be. The rhymes come later, as I develop the focus of each spread.

One reason I write in rhyme is that research shows that rhythm and rhyme are important in developing early literacy skills. I saw how this worked when my kids memorized rhyming books and then started recognizing the words. Rhyming books were often the ones my daughters requested over and over. Re-readability is so important with nonfiction because repeated exposure helps readers retain information. 

GROG: How long did you work on Patterns Everywhere?

Lisa: I spent several weeks researching and deciding the scope of the book. This involved interviewing my husband as well as reading books and online sites. I generally research a bit and then start writing to figure out where the information gaps are. 

It took me a few months to write a draft that was ready to share with my critique partners. After that, several rounds of revisions. Then I had two geoscientists review it for accuracy. I submitted the manuscript to Millbrook a year after I first got the idea, and the book will be released about three and a half years after the idea sparked.

GROG: Where did the photos come from? Whose idea was the book design?

Lisa: I originally included reference images with my manuscript, as well as illustration notes. My editor suggested a photo-illustrated book and I thought it made perfect sense. The designer, Viet Chu, found beautiful photographs to showcase the patterns, and the team at Millbrook was receptive to suggestions I made as the book developed.

Elements of PATTERNS EVERYWHERE:
Rhyming text, sidebar, stunning photo (Millbrook Press ™-- an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)

GROG: What do you want kids to take away from this book? 

Lisa: My biggest hope is that kids will feel excited about spending time outside. Patterns Everywhere is an invitation to explore our natural world with curiosity and wonder. The more we deepen our appreciation of the world around us, the more invested we become in taking care of it.

GROG: My thoughts exactly! So, tell us about your writing life ... What keeps you going?

Lisa: I write most days because I love it. Whether I'm working on a poem, picture book, or novel, I often start with a feeling or image that I want to capture. Sometimes I think I'm writing a poem but it turns into a picture book. Novel writing is more painstaking for me but it's really satisfying when the story comes together.

GROG: Okay! What about these forthcoming books?

After Patterns Everywhere and My Love for You this spring, I'll have two nonfiction from Little Simon/Simon & Schuster, illustrated by Jennifer Falkner: Tell Me about Space and Tell Me about Oceans. Then in summer 2024, Rocks Are All Around, which is co-authored with my husband, Taylor Perron, and illustrated by David Scheirer. 

GROG: So, that's five rhyming books announced for 2023 and 2024, nonfiction or informational fiction. Wow! Plus, I understand you have more yet to be announced. Congrats again. And for those wondering what is your secret, do you have some parting words of wisdom?

Lisa: We can spend a lot of time second-guessing ourselves and getting in our own way. When I feel stuck or self-conscious, I read some poems I enjoy, including Mary Oliver's "Invitation," and try to be more like the goldfinches who sing "not for the sake of winning but for sheer delight and gratitude."

GROG: Many thanks, Lisa, for stopping by and sharing your passion and insights! Congratulations again -- and happy writing.

Rhyming Nonfiction: An Interview with SNACK, SNOOZE, SKEDADDLE author Laura Purdie Salas ~ by Christy Mihaly

Writing good rhyming text is difficult, and writing nonfiction poses its own challenges, but if you know Laura Purdie Salas's books, you know she has mastered the art of rhyming nonfiction. Her "Can Be" series ( A Leaf Can Be; Water Can Be; A Rock Can Be) uses spare verse to introduce big ideas in nature. 

Laura writes poems--and has published several collections--and also pens lovely unrhymed prose. But she has developed a specialty of rhyming nonfiction. Her latest picture book creation is Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter. Laura's lively rhyming text and Claudine Gevry's adorable illustrations show young readers three ways in which animals prepare for, and survive, winter: migrate (that's SKEDADDLE); hibernate (SNOOZE), or tolerate (that's SNACK, plus adaptations such as growing heavier coats). It's a layered text, with short factual notes offering additional information for adults and curious kids. And, as a nonfiction nerd, I loved the informative back matter.

from "A Rock Can Be"

Laura graciously dropped by GROG to answer a few questions for our readers. She shares many valuable resources here--just click on the links below.

GROG: Thanks for stopping by, Laura.Your newest book is a real pleasure to read. Can you tell us what inspired you to write about animals weathering the winter?

LPS: Thanks so much for having me here, Christy. 
I grew up in Florida, where winter is practically nonexistent, and I was SO excited to move up to Minnesota and get a taste of winter! After our very first snowfall as Minnesotans, though, I looked around at the snowy white cushion all around and started worrying: Where were the squirrels? What did the rabbits do? Did the snow freeze and kill all of them? I was incredibly relieved to learn that snow actually insulates animals in winter and helps many small mammals survive the cold. Whew! My interests in animals and in the four seasons kind of inevitably led to this book.

GROG: I love that your first thought was concern for the critters. It's really interesting to learn how well adapted they are, right? Better than humans! But inquiring minds want to know ... How long did it take you, from the initial idea to the finished book?
LPS: I'll tell you the story. Here’s the original idea in my Picture Book Ideas document:

A few weeks later, I emailed my awesome editor at Lerner, Carol Hinz:

She thought the idea was delightful, and I was off and running (or flying or swimming). 
But. 
The manuscript did NOT just pour out easily. For several intense months, I tried one different approach after another.

·      Could the animals open fortune cookies that would reveal their winter tactics? “You will go on a long journey,” etc. But I couldn’t get enough variety.

·      Could I highlight numbers? Work in lots of winter survival facts by highlighting one size or speed or something about each animal. Mind-boggling numbers, and also use maps, graphs, and charts, etc. Nope. That was a big fat zero.

·      Could it be a school play or school newscast with students sharing what they did for winter break? It could, but it wasn’t.

I tried a lot of different approaches!

Here's an inside spread from SNACK, showing moose. The extra note says:
"This moose wears fur all year, but he grows special hollow hairs in winter that trap warm air against his body."

Eventually, I decided to use a before-and-during structure. The left side of the spread shows how an animal prepares for winter (by gaining weight, swimming south, growing a new coat, and so on), and the right side shows what it actually does during winter. So, the hummingbird gains weight so that it can fly south for the winter. The whale swims south so that it can mate and eat lots of krill where it’s warmer. The moose grows a warmer coat so that it can withstand brutal winter temperatures. I liked the idea that some of the winter survival strategies start happening months before winter arrives.

I submitted two different versions of the rhyming manuscript to Carol. (I wouldn’t recommend that unless you have a very good, long-standing relationship with an editor!) I sent those in August of 2017. 

In September 2017, Carol took the manuscript to an acquisitions meeting, and it was approved. If only EVERY book moved along this smoothly. But even on a manuscript that moved this quickly, I did a ton of brainstorming and trial-and-error. I considered probably 25-30 different approaches, and I tried out 4 or 5 of them with a first draft—or at least the start of a first draft.

GROG: One thing I most appreciate about you is your generosity in sharing the truth about how this business really works. You've given us a good reminder that even when it looks like someone had a smooth and easy path to publication, writing that little picture book required much more work (and waiting) than most people realize. 

Here's a question I've been anxious to ask: How do you decide when a book should rhyme, and when not to rhyme? 

LPS: Oooh, that’s a good question. Sometimes I know ahead of time. With A Leaf Can Be…, for instance, I specifically went hunting for a nonfiction topic I could write about in very spare verse. 

from "A Leaf Can Be"

Other times, though, as with Snack, Snooze,Skedaddle, I didn’t plan to write in rhyme. Most of the approaches I tried were in prose. But once I settled on the before-and-during (or sometimes cause-and-effect) structure of each spread, it seemed to fall into couplets naturally. One line for the before, and then a partner/rhyming line for the during.

Here's the frog spread from SNACK. Note: "This frozen Northern wood frog
stops breathing for months, then thaws and hops away!"

I have a picture book coming out next spring called Secrets of the Loon, and this was a project where the editor approached me, which is unusual. I tried four different approaches and wrote the first few spreads sharing the same information in each of all four different styles: haiku, diary, rhyming, and straight prose. Everyone’s favorite (including mine) was the rhyming, so that’s what I went with.

My other picture book coming out next year, Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten, is in prose, with just very brief rhyming passages at the huge points of conflict. But it’s mostly prose, and it always needed to be in prose. I wanted to go into more detail and move the plot along quickly, and it would have been very difficult to accomplish that and also still get some emotional resonance in a short rhyming story.

from "Water Can Be"

Here’s the thing: I am at least as interested in words as I am in any topic I write about—leaves, water, animals, loons, seasons, etc. So more than half the fun of writing a book is in choosing the structure and words I’ll use. It’s only partially about conveying information or telling a story (for me—other writers might be different). It’s kind of like music. Sometimes I want to listen to haunting folk music, other times power rock, and still other times singer-songwriter stuff. And sometimes I just want a good rhythm I can dance to. The magic of writing each different project is in getting to listen to the words as they start to shape up and then deciding what kind of song they best fit into. Maybe it will rhyme and maybe it won’t. Honestly, it’s trial and error much of the time for me.

GROG: I like the music analogy. And I'm glad to know we have these other books to look forward to! 

But meanwhile, would you care to share a tip or two about how to write in rhyme so that editors like it?

LPS: I suppose “Don’t suck” sounds awfully harsh, but it’s what I tell myself when I start revising a rhyming draft. Some things I focus on are:

o   Using fresh and vivid language

o   Not letting the rhyme obviously drive the arc of the story (If a reader knows you wrote a line just because it could rhyme with the previous one, you’re busted.)

o   Perfecting the meter, except when…

o   Breaking the meter purposefully to emphasize a certain point

o   Not getting carried away with too much metaphor and wordplay (This is my biggest hurdle.)

The fox spread from SNACK -- don't you love the fox?

GROG: These are excellent reminders, Laura. Do you have any advice for writers who want to try rhyming nonfiction? 

LPS: I shared a great exercise years ago on the Teaching Authors blog, here. It breaks down my general approach to rhyming nonfiction, and I invite you to give it a try.

On my website, I have an area with resources (including ones on poetry and also on nonfiction) for kidlit writers, here. 

For folks interested in becoming Patrons (through Patreon), I’ve been sharing step-by-step videos of the process of writing Secrets of the Loon. There’s quite a bit of my joys and struggles with rhyming nonfiction in there!

The book Rhyming Picture Books the Write Way, by Lisa Bullard and me, is full of great, simple to understand (but hard to master, I’m afraid) concepts that will make your rhyming picture book stronger.

And if you are looking for a course to take, I highly recommend Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab. I’ve co-taught it with her twice now, but with me or without me, it’s fabulous! Her materials are terrific, and she is SO knowledgeable about all things metrical! 

GROG: Wow! These are some great resources and recommendations. Thanks again, Laura. 

One last question, out of writerly curiosity. What does your writing space look like?

Laura multi-tasking at her treadmill desk

LPS: My husband and I moved last year, and for the first time in my life, I have a space that is JUST my office. Not a guest bedroom, not the dining room, not a closet. (Well, it is about the size of a closet.) I use a treadmill desk, and I have a window to see sky and trees…It’s all mine, and I adore it.

GROG: Now we all really have something to aspire to! Good luck in getting this beautiful book out into the wider world, and thanks again for all your words of wisdom.

For more thoughts related to rhyming nonfiction, click below for GROG blogs from the archives:
Making Science Sing
Rhyming Nonfiction PBs
Whose Hands Are These?
Writing Rhyming PBs

All about Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle

Book Trailer, reviews, downloadable activity sheets at https://laurasalas.com/snack/

Author: Laura Purdie Salas

Illustrator: Claudine Gévry

Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner (9/3/19)

ISBN: 978-1541529007