Author Description

Many of us think of children's picture books as being written mostly with simple declarative sentences. What an eye-opener to learn that they are actually filled with delightful figures of speech. I am NOT talking here about the common figures of speech we learn about in grade school: simile, onomatopoeia, alliteration, hyperbole and personification. I am talking about more subtle and sophisticated figures of speech which we may not even recognize as figures at all (until they are pointed out to us), but their use gives stories a charm and freshness that stands up to repeated readings. These figures have names which are eminently forgettable but the figures themselves make the stories in which they appear eminently memorable. These figures are important for conveying nuanced meaning in a story, for giving characters a signature style, and for providing cohesion--the glue that binds parts of a story together. It is therefore vital to become familiar with these figures--their names are secondary. In this volume, I point out many figures which appear in masterworks of children's picture storybooks, so that they may be appreciated and savored, and their patterns emulated in your own work.