RhyPiBoMo Registration (Hurry! Ends April 16th ) http://angiekarcher.wordpress.com/rhypibomo-registration/ RhyPiBoMo F.A.Qs http://angiekarcher.wordpress.com/rhypibomo-countdown/ RhyPiBoMo Facebook Group (for those registered) https://www.facebook.com/groups/173920209485707/ And Friday, April 25th at 6:00 pm PST there will be a free webinar! Mira Reisberg and Sudipta Bardhan-Quallan’s live Webinar 3 Things You Must Know About Writing Rhyming Kids’ Books! You won’t want to miss this! And they have a marvelous Poetry class coming up too! The Craft and Pleasure of Writing Poetry for Kids starting May 2014! Many children's book people have a passion for writing poetry. Here's a fabulous interactive e-Course co-taught with the fabulous Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen teaching you how to do so properly while exploring the many kinds of poetry. More information coming soon. www.childrensbookacademy.com And speaking of the fabulous Sudipta Bardhan-Quallan, she has had some amazing books come out recently. Two of my favorites are Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! And Snoring Beauty.
I love these books for many reasons, but I especially love the rhyme schemes. The most common and predictable rhyme scheme is a rhyming couplet. A rhyming couplet is a two-line stanza where the end words rhyme. Dr. Seuss wrote mainly in rhyming couplets. For example in Green Eggs and Ham I do not like green eggs and ham. A I do like them Sam I am. A I do not like them in a boat. B I do not like them with a goat. B I do not like them in a house. C I do not like them with a mouse. C While these are perfectly fine to use, I feel that when I read a book that has a totally different rhyme scheme, it makes me love it even more. The rhyming couplet is also what most beginning writers go to. So my suggestion to writers would be give a new rhyme scheme a try. Lane Frederickson has a fantastic site called Rhyme Weaver, which is all about writing Rhyming Picture Books. http://www.writingrhymeandmeter.com/ Her definition of Rhyme Scheme: · A Rhyme Scheme is a pattern that describes where the rhyming words fall within a given stanza or verse. Rhyme Schemes do not tell you anything about Meter or line lengths, they only delineate the number of, and placement of rhymed words. Let’s take a look at the beginning of Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! Apatosaurus colors. A Pterandodon inspects. B Velociraptor glitters. C Tyrannosaurus…Wrecks! B So in this stanza, Sudipta uses ABCB. I also love the short simple sentences: Noun/Verb. Using this kind of structure forces a writer to use a really strong verbs. Snoring Beauty has a great rhyme scheme! The night before this wedding day, A The skies were dark and dreary. B But in his house, C A little Mouse C Was dreaming of his dearie. B Mouse grinned a goofy little grin, A And settled in for dozing. B He needed rest C To look his best, C But as his eyes were closing… B This rhyme scheme is just so much fun to read. Plus, I love that the last line in the second stanza continues on to the next stanza. It really has a way of pulling you forward and turning the page. Very clever! There are so many different rhyme schemes to try. Take a look at the examples that Lane gives: http://www.writingrhymeandmeter.com/?page_id=2260 So when deciding to write a rhyming picture book, why only limit yourself to a rhyming couplet? Try a new rhyme scheme and see where it takes you!
1 Comment
Charlotte Dixon
4/14/2014 10:30:22 am
Thank you for sharing with us, Mandy :) Angie has done such an excellent presentation with RhyPiBoMo. I look forward to the webinar with Mira and Sudipta. Love the fact there is a course coming up with Sudipta!
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We are so excited to be mixing things up at CBA, beginning with some delicious additions to the Blogfish. Meet our awesome bloggers!!
Here's our lineup: 1st Mondays begin with awesome Aussie debut author and former student Amanda Lieber who will be focusing on Aussie kidlit. 2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books. 3rd Mondays will feature STEM, STEAM & SEL obsessed author Kourtney LaFavre sharing delightfully dorky, quirky, and fun info. 4th Mondays will be a mystery for right now. And 5th Mondays we'll be taking a break Archives
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