Constructing a Cumulative Story with Sandy Asher

We are so excited to have Sandy Asher join us today to share information about Cumulative Books!


SANDY ASHER has published over two dozen books for young readers, including the acclaimed picture books Too Many Frogs! and Chicken Story Time, along with hundreds of stories, poems, and articles in Highlights for Children, Ladybug, Hello, and Spider, among others. She's also edited several anthologies. With All My Heart, With All My Mind: 13 Stories About Growing Up Jewish won the National Jewish Book Award for children's literature. Writing It Right: How Published Children's Authors Revise and Sell Their Stories provides a unique look at the revision process of 20+ authors. Sandy has also adapted many of her books for the stage, including Chicken Story Time. The American Alliance for Theatre and Education has honored her with three Distinguished Play Awards (for A Woman Called Truth, In the Garden of the Selfish Giant, and Jesse and Grace: A Best Friends Story), as well as the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award and the Sara Spencer Artistic Achievement Award for lifetime contributions to the field.  


THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT -- AND YOU CAN, TOO!

Constructing a Cumulative Story

by Sandy Asher

Here's how to build a cumulative story.

Lay out a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Add your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Upholster with fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Choose your decor: surprise and humor

that suits the fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Complete with a roof of meaning or theme

that shelters your decor: surprise and humor

that suits the fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers the images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Good luck!

That bit of advice is inspired, of course, by the classic cumulative story, THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.  

Note the building blocks: repetition, strong images, lively rhythm, surprise and humor, and meaning or theme.  Look for them in the final verse of "Jack":

This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built!

Sources say this may be the original cumulative story, dating back (roughly) to the 16th century. What does it mean? Maybe back then something we no longer recognize. Or maybe the goal was simply to paint a topsy-turvy village in a few bold strokes. Or maybe it's just meant to celebrate clever use of language. Whatever the original intent, it remains fun to read and has inspired countless variations, including the equally well-known THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY, interpreted and reinterpreted by many authors and illustrators.

You'll note that rhyme isn't included among my building blocks. Rhyme is nice if you can manage it, but it’s not always possible or needed. Focus on the essentials, and you're well on your way. The variations are endless. Wikipedia defines cumulative stories simply as those in which "action or dialogue repeats and builds up in some way as the tale progresses."

My own CHICKEN STORY TIME, illustrated by Mark Fearing, uses the basic building blocks.  

As with "Jack" and "the Old Lady," there's constant repetition, but, in this case, the repetitions don't fold back on themselves.  They move the story forward: "Story time at the library.  One librarian.  One story.  Children.  And a chicken."  

There's a steady build:  "One week later.  Story time at the library.  One librarian.  One story.  More children.  More chickens." 

Weeks pass until there are so many children and chickens, the librarian is overwhelmed.  But she's resourceful (pun intended) and gives each child a book to read to small groups of chickens. 

I found it helpful to work backward.  I thought about everything I wanted in the finale, then eased my way toward it. I knew the librarian would be overwhelmed, and I knew her solution. I got there step by step, layering on repetition, strong images, lively rhythm, surprise and humor, and meaning or theme.  Children who were listeners at the beginning became readers at the end.

It's enormously satisfying to craft a tight-knit story that packs a mighty punch in style and content. Done well, it makes for a fun read, too.  Try it!


Thanks so much for joining us, Sandy!

You can find Sandy on her website at http://sandyasher.com or watch her on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/sandyplaywright.