Creating Expository Nonfiction Picture Books that Sing with Melissa Stewart

We are so excited to have Melissa Stewart join us today to share information about Expository Nonfiction Picture Books!

Melissa Stewart has written more than 200 science-themed nonfiction books for children, including the Sibert Medal Honoree Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen, and her upcoming title Whale Fall:Exploring an Ocean-floor Ecosystem. She maintains the award-winning blog Celebrate Nonfiction , and her highly-regarded website features a rich array of nonfiction reading and writing resources.

Most children’s book agents and editors chose to careers in publishing because they’re naturally drawn to stories and storytelling. And because they receive many, many more submissions than they can possibly accept, they’re taught to select manuscripts they fall in love with. So it’s no surprise that, when it comes to nonfiction, they’ve traditionally tended to favor submissions with a narrative writing style.

But many children think differently. These budding scientists, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and more are drawn to expository nonfiction —text that explains, describes, or informs in a clear, accessible way. This is also the kind of nonfiction teachers focus on during informational writing units, so increasingly, publishers are looking for engaging, innovative manuscripts with an expository writing style. As a result, editors and agents are becoming interested in expository nonfiction picture books and, in the last few years, there’s been a uptick in the number being acquired and published.

For many writers, the most challenging thing about writing expository nonfiction is text structure. While nearly all fiction and narrative nonfiction has a chronological sequence structure, as I explain in this series of articles published in School Library Journal, expository nonfiction can have just about any text structure you can think of.

If I’m lucky, I know the text structure of a book before I start writing, but often it takes years of experimenting. This interactive timeline describes my 4-year journey in search of the perfect text structure for my book Can an Aardvark Bark?

As Lydia Lukidis explains superbly in this Storystorm blog post , another important element of an expository nonfiction picture book is “the hook.” The information has to be presented in a way that makes kids care. It’s all about fueling their natural curiosity.

Beyond that, elements like strong voice and rich language make editors and agents sit up and pay attention. You can find informative video mini-lessons on these topics here. While they’re intended for teachers, they’re just the kind of information children’s book creators can benefit from, too.

And finally, I’d like to recommend the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing, which I edited. It includes inspiring and informative essays from all your favorite nonfiction authors talking about their creative process.

Good luck with your expository nonfiction picture book manuscript!

Thanks so much for joining us, Melissa!

To see more of Melissa’s work, you can visit her website at www.melissa-stewart.com or visit her on instagram @melissastewartscience.

Social Emotional Learning Picture Books with Gabi Snyder

We are so excited to have Gabi Snyder join us today to share information about Social Emotional Learning Picture Books!

Gabi (rhymes with “baby”) Snyder’s short bio:

Gabi Snyder is a fan of the unexpected. Her love of dogs, counting, and unusual modes of transportation inspired her debut picture book, TWO DOGS ON A TRIKE, illustrated by Robin Rosenthal and published by Abrams Appleseed (May 2020). Her second picture book, LISTEN, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin, came out in July 2021 from Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books. And her latest picture book, COUNT ON US! CLIMATE ACTIVISTS FROM ONE TO A BILLION, illustrated by Sarah Walsh, hit bookshelves in September 2022!

Gabi studied psychology at the University of Washington and creative writing at The University of Texas. When she’s not writing, she loves taking nature walks, visiting Little Free Libraries, and baking sweet treats. She lives in Oregon with her family. Learn more at gabisnyder.com.

What is SEL?

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines social and emotional learning (SEL) as “an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.”

I also really like how author Danielle Davis describes SEL picture books as those “that in some way touch on a child’s relationships—with themselves: their identities, feelings, behaviors—as well as their relationships with others. That’s the essence of social-emotional learning or social-emotional development, how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the wider community.” Check out her post featuring 20 recommended SEL books, including LISTEN! https://thispicturebooklife.com/20-social-emotional-picture-books/

My accidental entry into SEL books

My second picture book, LISTEN, has often been described as a SEL book. But when I drafted LISTEN back in 2018, I don’t think I’d heard of SEL. So I didn’t set out to write a SEL book. What I did set out to write was a book that I could’ve used as a child, a book I still need as an adult. 

I wanted to explore the benefits of listening. I also wanted to capture the sense that the world can sometimes be so filled with noise – both literal and figurative – that it can be overwhelming, and it can be challenging to focus on what’s really important.  

In addition, I wrote the book at a time when I was taking a great deal of inspiration and solace from getting outside for walks and paying attention to the sights, sounds, and sensations on those walks. I was also finding that the practice of mindfulness was helping me focus and feel less overwhelmed – a feeling I was especially prone to as a child and still occasionally struggle with as an adult. So I think the text for LISTEN grew from an exploration of the benefits of listening coupled with the practice of mindfulness. In other words, my SEL book was the book I needed as a child.

So in considering how to write an engaging SEL book, ask yourself what book your child self need that didn’t exist? Can you write that book now? It might help to consider childhood memories with strong emotions attached. What emotional memories from your childhood had to do with SEL theme? Consider how you saw your relationship with yourself, with others, or with the world around you. Did you, for instance, find certain expectations about who you should be or how you should behave didn’t match your true sense of self?  Were you a girl who was discouraged from exploring her sporty side? Or maybe, like me, there was a way in which the world was sometimes hard to navigate because it felt like “too much” of something. Or maybe you felt like “too much” for your world?  

And, of course, anytime you set out to write a particular type of book, it’s helpful to read a slew of books in that genre. A few of my favorite SEL books…

JENNY MEI IS SAD

Written and illustrated by: Tracy Subisak

Themes/Topics: sadness, friendship, listening, making space for feelings

First two spreads: 

My friend Jenny Mei is sad.

But you might not be able to tell. 

TWO SPECKLED EGGS

Written and illustrated by: Jennifer K. Mann

Themes/Topics: friendship, cliques, outsiders, being different/unique

First spread: 

Ginger’s birthday party was in two weeks, and she wanted to invite all the girls in her class...

except Lyla Browning.

JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Written and illustrated by: Jessica Love

Themes/topics: individuality; embracing differences; self-love; unconditional love; mermaids; parades; gender fluidity/nonconformity

First spread:

This is a boy named Julián. And this is his abuela. And those are some mermaids.

Julián LOVES mermaids.

Happy reading and happy SEL writing!

Thanks so much for joining us, Gabi!

Connect with Gabi on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/gabi_snyder_writer/) or visit her website (https://gabisnyder.com/). 

2023 Picture Book Writing Challenge!

Our 2022 Picture Book Writing Challenge was a great success! About 30 of you participated as we created, struggled, and succeeded together! I loved stretching myself and hearing about your experiences as you reached and grew as writers. Twelve months and ten genres later—we did it! 

Who’s in for 2023? December was a welcome breather, but I’m excited for a new challenge and more new genres to try! Invite your friends, tell your family members—the more, the merrier! Remember, you don’t have to be a published writer or even an aspiring writer to join in—everyone can learn when we practice thinking outside our personal boxes. If you were on the fence last year, hop off! You can do this!

How it Works: Register by commenting on this blog post. On the first day of the month, I’ll share a guest blog post with information about that month’s picture book genre. Later in the month, I’ll share a guest post from an author who writes that type of picture book. Challenge yourself by writing a picture book manuscript in the prescribed genre! Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect! No one else even has to see it! The point is to have fun and grow as a writer. (The Picture Book Writing Challenge is designed as a personal challenge for yourself, as no critiquing or sharing manuscripts is involved.)

Outcome: By the end of the year, you’ll have 10 new picture book manuscripts! Not only that, but you will grow creatively and have fun along the way!

Here’s the list:

I hope you join us! Happy writing!

Epistolary Picture Books with Julie Falatko

We are so excited to have Julie Falatko join us today to share information about Epistolary Picture Books!

credit: Photo by Elle Darcy

Julie Falatko writes books for children. She is the author of many books, including Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book), which was named one of the ABA’s best books for young readers for 2016, was featured in People magazine, and was read online by David Harbour of “Stranger Things,” and the Two Dogs in a Trench Coat chapter book series, illustrated by Colin Jack (Scholastic), for which she received the Denise McCoy Literacy Award.

I wrote Yours in Books as a challenge to myself. Could I tell a whole story only in letters? I loved the idea of characters getting to know each other through correspondence. 

First I had to ask myself some questions, and these are questions anyone writing an epistolary book should consider.

  1. Why is it in letters (or emails, or sticky notes, or airplanes with banners flying behind)? Epistolary books are fun, but there has to be a reason that the story only makes sense told via correspondence. In Yours in Books, Owl doesn’t want to leave his treetop home to visit Bessie Squirrel’s bookstore, so he orders books by mail.

  2. How do your characters treat the correspondence? Is it strictly professional? What are they trying to convey? What do they want? Does their motivation change as the story goes on? The correspondence between Owl and Bessie in Yours in Books is formal at first but gets increasingly casual as they get to know each other.

  3. Is what they write in the letters the truth? There is an opportunity to have the words of the correspondence contrast with the reality shown in the illustrations – often in hilarious ways. This is a huge advantage to writing an epistolary picture book, because you know some of the story will be told in the illustrations.

One of my favorite things to look for in junk shops is the box of postcards. I love blank postcards to send to people, but I really love postcards that have already been sent. There are so many stories in these small spaces – you know, just like picture books.

Here are some of my favorites. Each of them has layers of story and character hiding behind the words on the card. Your epistolary books should be just as full of juicy unwritten story as these are.

Dear Marian, I felt so sorry, this afternoon, when I realized that I forgot to thank you for your Thanksgiving postal, it was thoughtfully kind of you to send it. Yours sincerely, A.L. Brittain

Ok. So this person is writing a thank you to Marian for her Thanksgiving letter, and is feeling terrible because of neglecting to reply to her. But. It’s posted November 28. I looked it up – Thanksgiving in 1910 was November 24. Unless this is about her letter from 1909, there’s something more here. Does she always demand an immediate reply? Did she send a Thanksgiving postcard weeks early? Does she send postcards all the time and A.L. Brittain is trying to get rid of her? Is this some form of flirtation? 

The Grand Canyon is a wonderful sight to see. Maybe you will see it someday. Dad.

I love this one. On the one hand, he may very well be truly wishing his daughters will see the Grand Canyon some day. On the other hand, there is some fatherly pressure here. Get out! See the world! Maybe visit Arizona every once in a while!

Labor Day. Dear Ann, This has been a very strange vacation. My 4 yr. old niece has had the week off and we’ve been escorting her to her swimming lessons. We’re now staying at a resort for the long weekend and the day’s structured around her pool time – naptime. Her little (6 mo. old) sister is getting short shrift. Even my photo taking ops are defined by my sister. Although it’s beautiful here, it has gotten too hot. I’m all set for NY fall. Hope you are recovering still & less tired. Your friend, Meg

I love the story of this one, the idea of going on a family trip, traveling across the country, only to have everyone revolving around the 4-year-old’s schedule. Even her photo ops are regulated. So good.

Dear E- Where the will is not strong and the flesh is quite weak, the mere mention of food makes the tummy go tweek. Your nice invitation I can hardly refuse. You’ve so little to gain – and I’ve nothing to lose. And so I will close – wishing most truly – “The Top of the Mornin’ to All”—Mr. Dooley

WHO IS THIS GUY? Can you imagine receiving a response to your dinner invitation entirely in rhyme? What do you think Eugenia’s response was? Because it could very well be either delight or wishing she has not, in fact, invited Mr. Dooley to dinner.

The challenge of writing an epistolary book is in stripping away everything but the correspondence. There’s no room for describing the scene or the characters. But we’re lucky as picture book authors, because we know the illustrators can tell that part of the story. Writing entirely in correspondence is like dialog that has taken one step back – it’s not what your characters are saying, but what they think they should be saying, how they think they should sound. An epistolary book is a challenge to create one story in the words themselves, and to have those words hint at layers of story that aren’t being told (just like in all those postcards from the junk shop).  

Thanks so much for joining us, Julie!

To see more of Julie’s work, visit her website: juliefalatko.com, Twitter: @Julie Falatko, Instagram: @julie_falatko, and Substack: Do the Work.

Board Books with Jill McDonald

We are so excited to have Jill McDonald join us today to share information about Board Books!

Jill McDonald is a Midwest based illustrator and designer whose cheery and colorful art can be found on clothing, fabric, bedding, stationery, puzzles, games, and books.

When I was younger, I never imagined I’d be an author one day. I’ll tell you a secret, it still feels strange to me today! In first grade I learned I had dyslexia. While my classmates began to read with ease I was frustrated and confused. Being in grade school in the early 80’s meant I would need to be part of the L. D. (learning disabled) department for a portion of my day. This was a good thing as it offered me extra help, it also helped build my determined spirit that I’m not sure I’d have if I wasn’t dyslexic. This also meant that I stood out and made me feel less capable than my classmates. So, I dove into ART, something that came naturally to me. I knew you could be an artist as my father was one, he had a busy graphic design agency throughout my childhood.

I went to art school at R.I.S.D. and continued to develop my art skills.  When I started my own illustration studio a couple years after graduating, I focused on brightly colored collections to present at shows or to specific clients.  My art had always included words with punchy adjectives here and there but, I was always afraid to add too many words as I didn’t feel like me and words meshed well.

I illustrated books for publishers but never volunteered my own writing.  In 2014 I was contacted by an editor at Doubleday Books (a division of Random House Kids) she saw a solar system wall art piece I made and wanted to discuss some non- fiction science/ nature inspired books.  I was excited but then terrified… when she asked, “would you consider writing them as they will be simple board books”?

Something inside me told me to say YES!  Having my own business and being an artist in general is one opportunity after another to bet on yourself.  So, I did!  My editor wanted to begin with four books- Solar System, Weather, Backyard Bugs, and Birds.  This is how the Hello, World! series began.

My approach was to learn as much as I could about the subject and then distil it down into something more bite sized for the one to four age range. I start by adding a sentence that explains the subject simply on each page slowly figuring out how it needs to flow.  I think of it as a conversation with the reader.  Science and nature are about observing and asking questions, so it was important that I engaged with the reader this way.  There are places in each book where questions are directly asked. 

For older readers I wanted to include fun facts on each spread that a parent, or older sibling might find interesting as well as something the younger reader might grow into as their familiarity with the subject developed.  This is signaled with an asterisk before the text.

My nerves begin at the start of each new book but learning so many cool new things and remembering I have an audience to share it with pushes me through the process.  I don’t have a diverse background in science, but I am very curious and excited about the subjects we get to explore.  My editor is a wonderful help with keeping the range of facts covered fresh, diverse & dialing me back if it starts to get out of age range.  She’s also a pro with cutting out the unnecessary.  By now you can probably see I can get wordy!

When I submit my first draft, I write two different options.  I’m sure this is due to my own insecurities with my writing.  Telling myself that with offering options some of it would work.  And it did in most cases.  My editor then crafts the two together creating what she calls a “frankindocument”. This is how we continue to work today.  With over twenty titles now in the Hello, World! series I think our writing relationship has worked wonderfully! 

Once the manuscript has been approved, I move onto the art, a part of the process I feel much more at home with.  The first couple books I wrote for Hello, World! took longer than the twelve spreads of art that accompanied it.  I’ve gotten quicker and more confident over the past seven years of writing.  Although I’m still not sure I’d call myself an author perhaps a sometimes-reluctant author!  One who is thrilled to have this opportunity to surprise myself and share almost two million books with the growing Hello, World audience!

photo by Suzanne Corum-Rich

*A little side note:  The Hello, World! board book series has expanded into Hello, World! Kids’ Guides picture books for kids who are ready for the next step. (Ages 3- 7 years)  Available now at your favorite place to buy books.

Thanks so much for joining us, Jill!

To see more of Jill’s work visit jillmcdonalddesign.com or follow here @missjillmcdonald on Instagram.

Consider the Humble Board Book By Susan Claus

We are so excited to have Susan Claus join us today to share information about Children’s Board Books!

Susan Claus is a children’s librarian, writer, and illustrator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is happiest outside on slightly rainy days. Susan makes sure to let her inner child out every day to play.

Before the 1940’s, “books for children” meant “books for children who had learned to read”. Publishers pushed out a few books for parents to buy around the holidays, but most of the publishing was aimed at the public library market, and for schools. Librarians, back in the day, were staunch prescriptionists (“We’ll TELL you what’s good for you”), defenders of children’s fragile souls, making sure that nothing harsh, ugly, or silly contaminated the blank pages of their unformed minds. Publishers didn’t see the children’s book market as lucrative.

The post-war baby-boom suddenly delivered to the publishing industry a huge wave of children and parents eager to buy interesting books. Educators at New York’s Bank Street School did an end-run around the gate keeping librarians and produced books about the everyday experience of children, the harsh, the ugly, and the silly included. Books that were fun and engaging. And marketable! Publishers took note, and enlisted an army of writers and illustrators to produce wonderful picture books. But still, these books were targeted at children who could read.

Pre-1940, a baby might be given a cloth book; two cotton rectangles, sewn down the middle, to play with. Cloth books were toys, not brain fodder. Babies and toddlers were viewed as human dumplings, tiny barbarians bent on the destruction of any books that came into their pudgy hands, and, until they could talk, not given credit for having much going on “upstairs”.

The arrival of Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt in 1940 changed the thinking about baby books. Pat the Bunny had sturdy, doubled pages that were hard to tear. Each spread had simple words, a simple drawing, and a texture,  piece of cloth, or hole in the page that related to the image. Parents and the babies on their laps encountered the pages together, and parents could see their babies engaging those pages in ways that proved the “wheels” were turning. Parents began to demand books that fed babies’ minds, and publishers were quick to deliver.

Books with cardboard pages, that were hard to tear, and fine to chew on, gave babies and toddlers books of their own. Most were simple concept books; word books, opposites, counting books and ABCDeries. A few had simple, linear stories.

Researchers in the 1980s began to study brain development in children in new ways, courtesy of technology like magnetic imaging, and proved that babies’ brains were not just little unformed blobs, but full of billions of busy neurons firing and making connections. Other researchers studied how babies process vision, and discovered that the gentle pastel colors that traditionally surrounded them were actually hard for babies to see.

Publishers responded with board books designed to stimulate babies’ brains with bold black and white images, and colorful pages with sharp contrast.

The early brain development research also showed how very interested babies were in looking at faces, so board books with photographs of babies soon crowded bookstore shelves.

Most board books were created by publishers in-house, with writers and illustrators uncredited. But the explosion of board book publishing caught the attention of author illustrators like Rosemary Wells and Sandra Boynton, who pushed the small publishing niche into a full-fledged genre.

As the demand for board books expanded, publishers looked to their back lists and began to repackage picture book classics in board book format.

Board books as a genre continues to expand. In the past few years, writers and illustrators have developed cheeky high-concept one-word-per-page board book “retellings” of literary classics like Moby Dick and Jane Eyre.           

Biographies were once a school-library exclusive, but board book biographies of Freida Kahlo and Coco Chanel can now be found in many strollers, along with “baby’s first book of physics”.

Babies & toddlers now have hundreds of sturdy, high-quality board books to handle and enjoy. But beyond enjoyment, having books they can handle sets them up to be successful future readers. They develop print awareness, print motivation, small motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and a visual vocabulary.

Hooray for the humble board book!

PS: Want to take a gander at some fresh new board books? Try this list from Book Riot.

Thanks so much for joining us, Susan!

You can find Susan on Instagram @fernpondart, on Facebook @fernpondstories, or on her Website!

Nonfiction Science Picture Books with Jane Kurtz

We are so excited to have Jane Kurtz join us today to share information about Nonfiction Science Picture Books!

Jane Kurtz is the author of more than 40 books for young readers—and has collaborated to create many more through her volunteer efforts to invent Ready Set Go bilingual books in Ethiopian languages. Because of those efforts, she is a winner of the IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award. She is sometimes lucky enough to teach the Picture Book Intensive at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Children’s and YA Literature.

Where is that just-right picture book idea lurking?

One day, I was on a writing retreat. Picture books were then in a phase of irony and sly winks that baffled or infuriated a number of grandparents (try reading buyer reviews) and some writers. This photo from retreat shows my sense of humor. As Betsy Bird wrote, “It'll be the wry child that takes to I Want My Hat Back but the world is full of wry youth.”

We were making each other laugh by coming up with outrageous ideas for picture books, when the words “zoo poo” came out of the mouth of Jackie Briggs Martin whose lyrical Snowflake Bentley won a Caldecott medal. “Hold on,” I said.

Jackie and I are both interested in compost and gardens and citizen science. We both love the sounds of words. And nonfiction picture books were starting to enter a glorious age. I tried to convince her to take that idea seriously. She gave it to me instead.

Then I was stuck.

Picture book biographies often flow from a childhood incident to some kind of amazing accomplishment. A person’s life gives a place to start and end.

A creative nonfiction science book? What’s a pleasing and effective shape that pulls the reader in…and builds…and has some kind of turn or change…and delivers a payoff?

I’d visited the Portland zoo with my grandkids. Their zoo doo was enticing for my backyard habitat.

I also watched a delightful video about the Woodland Park Zoo, which composts approximately 500 tons of Zoo Doo each year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjfNVEvRI3w

So focus on one of those zoos? Or write about different sustainability efforts with zoo poo all around the world?

Much later, some smart nonfiction-writing fifth graders helped me see that I ended up with a “problem-solution” structure. At the time, I just kept thinking about how to hook the reader.

One day, I was looking at the worms in my compost bin. It occurred to me that my audience might not even know to connect poo-ing with chewing. Although I had no plans for a rhyming text, this popped out:

Welcome to the zoo and the peaceful sound of chewing.

Everybody eats, all around the zoo.

Different mouths.  Different teeth. Welcome to the view.

Munch munch the herbivores eat fruit and leaves and trees.

Crunch crunch the carnivores devour meat with glee.

Oh, oh the omnivores nibble spiders and seeds.

And then…

Splat

Splosh

Plop

Dink

Welcome to the zoo with the funny sounds of poo-ing.

(All those words ultimately boiled down to this.)

My research process was fairly simple. I started with what I knew about animals in Ethiopia where I grew up seeing lots of scat. Hyenas, giraffes, monkeys, and elephants all auditioned and got in.

Then I poked around, looking for whatever fascinated me: pandas with their pleasant bamboo-scented poo. Wombats with their puzzling cube-shaped poo that scientists were trying to understand.

My initial question (what do zoos do with all that poo?) became the turn, leading in to various answers to that question. I had to fight for the worms from my compost bin to make their way in (worm poop plus zoo poop grows perfect zoo-chini).

In the end, my book does make readers laugh. Here are my grandkids celebrating with me on the book birthday.

But I’m proud that it was also a finalist that year for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books. What a reward for a ton of hard work: science that engages readers and makes them laugh and think!

Thanks so much for joining us, Jane!

You can find Jane on her website at www.janekurtz.com, on Instagram @writerjanie, or on twitter @janekurtz.

Picture Books with Refrains with Stella Partheniou Grasso

We are so excited to have Stella Partheniou Grasso join us today to share information about Picture Books with Refrains!

Stella Partheniou Grasso has been working in the Canadian children’s publishing industry since 2003. She is the author of six picture books including Five Busy Beavers and Take Me Out to the Ice Rink, both published by Scholastic Canada Ltd. Her jokes have been featured in the bestselling Laugh Out Loud Canadian Jokes. Stella loves connecting with listeners to celebrate the themes of community spirit and teamwork found in her books. She is a member of Storytelling Toronto who enjoys sharing stories from Ancient Greek mythology, and folktales from Cyprus and the Mediterranean Basin. Stella is also a member of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers). Feel free to visit her online at www.stellapartheniougrasso.com.

Come share a story with Stella Partheniou Grasso!

Writing a Story with a Refrain

What pops into your when you hear Not by the hair on our chinny-chin-chin?

Repeated phrases, or refrains, catch a listener’s ear. They can make a story memorable. One simple line like, “Not by the hair on our chinny-chin-chin,” evokes not just one scene in a story but a pattern in a storyline. Storytellers have known about the power of repeated phrases for millennia. Whether you’re writing poetry or prose, fiction or nonfiction, including a refrain is a great tool in your writing toolbox.

Refrains engage readers and listeners because we start anticipating when they’ll appear again. Young kids will often “read along” with the refrain. This comic by SpaceboyCantLOL plays on our impulse to repeat familiar refrains.

Refrains act as a touchpoint for the audience helping to set the stage for action, or, reinforcing a point in the story. What’s changed since we last heard the phrase? What’s stayed the same? Sometimes the meaning of the refrain changes even though the words stay the same.

Setting the stage for action

With Five Busy Beavers (illustrated by Christine Battuz), I wanted to celebrate the wetland ecosystem that beavers engineer and feature the animals that call the wetlands home. The story follows a colony of beavers who are damming up a river. They cut down logs, create channels to ferry the logs to the pond, use mud to secure the logs in place and then maintain the dam.

I knew I wanted a light and bouncy refrain to countdown from five beavers to one. I decided to use the refrain to introduce the wetland animals that depend on the beavers to create their habitat.

The bouncy, memorable refrain gives readers a bit of breathing space between the technical non-fiction action sequences, which are written in a more complex meter. The refrain introduces a wetland neighbor and interrupts the rhythm of the beavers’ work both in the narrative and in the rhyme scheme. Yet, despite the interruptions, the work still goes on.

The refrain in Five Busy Beavers, “Along came an [animal] who wanted to play,” prompts readers to anticipate an action, “And one little beaver [travelled] away.”

Recapping events/reinforcing a concept

Take Me Out to the Ice Rink (illustrated by Chris Jones) is is a hockey adaptation of the classic song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” which has a chorus that is so popular that the original verses are all but forgotten. The refrain comes in the first two lines of the chorus, “Take me out to the ice rink/Take me out to the game. . .”

The change in rhythm between the verses and the chorus serves as a natural break between the three periods of a hockey game. In my adaptation, I use it to give the audience an auditory signal that the point of view is changing from third person to first person. With a refrain written in the first person the reader is drawn into the story in a personal way each time it is repeated. The verses describe the action happening in the scene; the chorus reinforces the emotional investment by providing the characters’ reactions to those events, whether it’s the players getting ready to play the game or the spectators recapping the game play of the previous period and forecasting what might happen next. Chris Jones’s illustrations help guide the reader through the voice change.

Exploring meanings

George Shannon’s One Family, illustrated by Blanca Gómez explores the idea of family through a counting book with each spread ending in the refrain, “One family.”

The seemingly simple text coupled with the warm illustrations of different family configurations help readers redefine what it means to be a family in a very accessible way. Shannon and Gómez have found a way of exploring an abstract issue like diversity in a concrete way for young readers and listeners by the simple repetition of two words that are illustrated in a multitude of ways. Regardless of how the family is depicted on the page each family celebrates the love and the bonds of kinship.

Shannon, George, and Blanca Gómez. 2022. One family.

Writing stories with a refrain can be a lot of fun. Refrains help create a familiar structure to build your story around. Whether you use them to develop a pattern of action, reinforce a theme, or explore different facets of a single concept, they will definitely make your story memorable for readers and listeners alike.      

Books that use a refrain to reinforce a concept

Never Let You Go by Patricia Storms is a family favourite with a reassuring message for children and grownups alike. The refrain of the caregiver’s reassuring promise provides security as the young penguin takes risks and explores the world around them. As a parent I appreciate the reminder that even though it can be hard to do, sometimes we need to let go of our little ones. But it’s ok because they’ll also never let go of us either.   

In Yuvi’s Candy Tree by Lesley Simpson, illustrated by Janice Lee Porter, the grandmother’s refrain provides hope as a refugee family embarks on a difficult and dangerous journey from Ethiopia to Israel. It serves to remind them of the rewards waiting for them if they can just endure their current hardship. Yuvi doesn’t fully understand what her grandmother means when she first says it, but, as the journey continues and Yuvi faces one adversity after another, her grandmother’s words soon begin to make sense and provide comfort.

In a world of instant gratification waiting can be one of the hardest skills we need to learn. The refrain in While We Wait by Judy Ann Sadler, illustrated by Élodie Duhameau captures that restlessness. As the grandmother patiently uses the waiting time constructively the young boy’s impatience keeps him from living in the moment and enjoying the time he’s sharing with her. Only after the waiting is over does he realize that there was a purpose to what he and his grandmother were doing. 

  

Books that use a refrain to anticipate an action

The refrain in Jeremiah and Mrs. Ming by Sharon Jennings, illustrated by Mirelle Levert, is a common scenario in any family’s bedtime routine as Jeremiah makes one excuse after another about why he can’t go to sleep. Pretty soon readers brace themselves for giggles when they hear Jeremiah tells Mrs. Ming that he can’t fall asleep as they wait to hear the outlandish reason that he’s still awake. 

Many of Robert Munsch’s stories make great readalouds because they started out as oral stories that he then adapted for print books. Alligator Baby, illustrated by Michael Martchenko is no exception. Repetition plays a key role in the story as Kristen’s expectant parents accidentally go to the zoo instead of the hospital and come home with the wrong baby. Kids love “reading along” with the refrain using the illustrations as prompts. It’s a great blend of text and art to help readers anticipate what’s coming next.

Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke, illustrated by Angela Brooksbank also uses a refrain to set the stage for adorable antics. This time the setting is a vibrant outdoor market where baby charms the vendors and receives delicious treats to eat. This is a beautiful example of combining a familiar refrain with a new twist each time to explore similarities and differences from one scene to the next.

Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman is another family favourite. My mom and kids still quote the refrain 20 years later. The refrain has a lot going for it, the rhythm, the rhyme, the emotion. Parents and kids each act out their roles in the refrain with the parent exasperated by the mess and the kids promising to clean up later. The refrain reins in the kids’ silliness and gives the reader a breather before ramping up to even more imaginative adventures in the next verses. 

Nonfiction books that use a refrain

Refrains can also help provide structure to nonfiction texts. Carol Matas uses a refrain as an organizing structure in Who’s Looking? How Animals See the World, illustrated by Cornelia Li. The refrain sets the stage for exploring the world through the eyes of a different animal. Li’s illustrations do a great job of contrasting our way of looking at the world with the way animals perceive it while Matas’s refrain invites the reader to put themselves in the animal’s place and see the world in a different way. 

In We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac the author shares the story of the complicated relationship between Indigenous people and the settlers who have colonized North America. She tempers a fairly dense history with a one-sentence refrain that changes the entire mood of the book from one of oppression, systemic racism and genocide to one of resilience, pride and hopefulness for the future. It makes sense that the author chose that one sentence to be the title of the book because that one sentence embodies how people reclaim their history, celebrate their strengths and continue to keep their traditions alive.

Thanks so much for joining us, Stella!

You can find Stella on her website at www.stellapartheniougrasso.com, Facebook at www.facebook.com/stella.p.grasso, and Twitter @Stella_P_Grasso.

Historical Fiction Picture Books with Kristy Dempsey

We are so excited to have Kristy Dempsey join us today to share information about Historical Fiction Picture Books!

Kristy Dempsey is the manager of marketing content and creative development at The Lumistella Company, a global children’s entertainment brand. She is also the author of numerous picture books, including Papa Put a Man on the Moon (Dial), a Bank Street Best Book and a Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine Best Book, and Superhero Instruction Manual (Knopf), an ILA/CBC Children's Choice selection and Southern Book Prize nominee. Her titles have received starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, and School Library Journal, and A Dance Like Starlight was named a JLG selection, ALA Notable Book, Bank Street Best Book, CCBC 2015 Choice, and the winner of the 2015 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text.

As a child, I was fascinated by the 1969 moon landing. Though it happened just before my birth, the replay of television clips through the years and the drama of a nation watching the events unfold inspired my imagination. Imagine my surprise when I later learned that the humble community of Slater, SC that my mother grew up in played a part in this amazing accomplishment. 

Community Building in the Slater, SC Mill Village

In the early 1960s, when textile production began moving overseas, the small textile mill in Slater faced a crisis. Cotton production was waning, and the mill that the community relied on for jobs was at risk. But when JFK announced that the US would land a man on the moon within the next decade, thousands of manufacturing plants across the US received contracts to produce the “nuts and bolts” it would take to put men on the moon. Eventually the mill in Slater received one of those contracts, to produce a fiberglass textile that would become one layer in the astronauts’ spacesuits.

Samples of spacesuit fabric layers at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

I’ve always been drawn to historical events, particularly human stories of those events, the “as seen through their eyes” perspectives of individuals who were there in the moment, and even more specifically, the perspectives of children who experienced those moments. That perspective informed my approach to my 2015 picture book A Dance Like Starlight. 

So as I began to uncover my own family’s relationship to the 1969 moon landing, I searched for a way to write Papa Put a Man on the Moon through the eyes of a child. 

Every member of my family on my mother’s side, and even my own father, had worked in this textile mill in the 1960s. The community was small, and the large majority of its residents worked at the mill. I wanted to highlight how this small community had contributed to the moon landing (in essence telling the story of the over 400,000 workers across the nation who contributed in some way) through the eyes of a child who was proud of her parents’ role. But my biggest difficulty in telling this story was my need, in some sense, to remove my own connection to it. Though my mother did grow up in this community, by the time of the moon landing, she was an adult. 

My mother, as a child in her home in the mill village, and as an adult in 1966

I used my mother’s relationship with her father as a base and imagined my mother younger. The details surrounding the events are accurate, but the characters themselves are composites. Even so, I still struggled to remove all the specifics I wanted to include about my own family. 

From an early draft of Papa Put a Man on the Moon

My papa did have honey bees and they were a huge part of my own childhood memories. But this detail, though it brought Papa to life and informed the relationship between father and daughter, did not point toward the central focus of the book, the moon landing and Papa’s contribution to it, along with the pride Marthanne felt. So, that detail got cut.

Opening page of Papa Put a Man on the Moon

The decision of which details to include, and which to leave out, must always be connected to the central aim of the book. There were three things I wanted to establish in this story:

  1. Marthanne’s pride in her father and her community

  2. Papa’s humble dedication to his job and his family

  3. The idea that big achievements are made up of thousands of small, sometimes seemingly insignificant, contributions

I felt like those three things best reflected the historical aspect of this story and honored the truth, even as some of the details were fictionalized.

In regards to truth in details in historical fiction, there is a funnel of truth through which to sift your details:

One of the details in the book actually ended up being sifted through this probability filter in the illustration stage. 

This scene outside of the A&H Supermarket in Slater, SC was originally depicted as a scene outside of a church, but while a conversation between races after church might have been “possible,” given the segregation among churches at the time, it wasn’t plausible, and certainly not probable. It was much more likely any conversations between races would have taken place at the supermarket or at the Mill Hill Community Center where residents of both races came together to play sports. 

While I would never change the details of the historical event, and I require evidence for those details, historical fiction sometimes uses invented dialogue and context. I use the probability filter to help ensure that any context I create remains true to history and resonates in its details.

Thanks so much for joining us, Kristy!

You can find Kristy on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/kddempsey/, Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/kristydempsey/, and Twitter @ https://twitter.com/kristydempsey

She also recently recorded a podcast on the Voyager podcast. You can hear more about her career and writing process here!

Dual Narrative Picture Books with Nancy Churnin

We are so excited to have Nancy Churnin join us today to share information about Dual Narrative Picture Books!

Nancy Churnin is an award-winning children’s book author who writes about people who have made the world a better place and inspire kids to be heroes and heroines, too. Among her honors: the 2021 National Jewish Book Award, the 2022 Sydney Taylor Honor, the 2022 and 2019 Sydney Taylor Notable, the 2018 South Asia Book Award, two Junior Library Guild picks, a Sakura Medal Finalist, three Social Studies Notable Trade Books for Young people, two Children’s and Teen’s Choice Book Awards Finalist, three Silver Eureka Award winners, five A Mighty Girl picks, multiple books on the Bank Street School of Education Best Children’s Book lists and starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. All her books come with free teacher guides, resources, and projects on her website, nancychurnin.com. Nancy lives in North Texas and is available for virtual and in-person bookings through authorsandmore.com.

In addressing my process of writing of dual narrative picture books, the first thing you need to know is that I never set out to create such a book. Instead, the concept behind Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. found me.  I felt compelled to tell their stories together and I discovered how to do it by doing it.

The idea began to stir in me at a time of great distress, when I was worried about the rise of hate crimes in this country. When things feel dark, I search, in my reading, for light. It didn’t take long to turn to the words of Dr. King and Anne Frank, who never stopped working or believing that we could create a better, kinder, more just world for all, despite living in times so suffused with hate that their lives, like so many others, were cut brutally and painfully short. 

I didn’t intend to write about either one. After all, both have been the subject of many fine books. Then, as I studied their lives, I noticed that they were both born in the same year: 1929, the year of the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression, a time when people were scared and hungry and, sadly, easily manipulated into looking for vulnerable groups to blame. 

I started wondering what else they had in common. I pulled out a piece of notebook paper and noted key things that had happened at the same time in their lives. At five, both were cut off from their friends, not able to go to the nearest school, Martin because of the color of his skin, Anne because she was Jewish. At the same age that kids are excited to go to the public swimming pool, the ice cream store, or the movies, Martin was turned away because of the color of his skin and Anne because she was Jewish.

There were parallels in what they experienced, but was there a deeper connection? I wondered how they dealt with the challenges that faced them. When I saw that Martin won his first speech competition at 13 and Anne began to write in the diary she received for her 13th birthday, I had it. At 13, they both discovered the power of words to articulate a vision for a better world. This gave me the opportunity to share with young readers the power of words – something that can’t be tasted, smelled, or worn – but can fill us with courage and strength to do the right thing. Taking two people with so many differences on the outside – gender, race, religion, language, country of origin – and showing how much they shared on the inside also gave me the opportunity to share how we are all one human family and how we are all here to help each other.

I tried to keep the writing as simple as possible to focus on these interwoven threads. My opening talked to the reader about their differences, the narrative focused on their parallels, and my ending underlined their unified hope for a better future. It is my hope that these parallel stories will inspire young readers to work for a better future for us all, too.

Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank, is illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, published by Creston Books, and distributed by Lerner Books. It has been translated into Braille by the National Braille Press and is also available in Chinese.

Link to the Braille translation: https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/BC2102-MARTIN-ANNE.html 

Thanks so much for joining us, Nancy!

You can find Nancy on Facebook @Nancy Churnin and @Nancy Churnin Children’s Books, Twitter @nchurnin, or Instagram @nchurnin.

Surprise Endings with Stephen W. Martin

We are so excited to have Stephen W. Martin join us today to share information about Surprise Endings!

Stephen W. Martin is a writer on Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Trash Truck, along with Frederator’s Bravest Warriors. Stephen is also the author of several picture books, including Charlotte and the Rock, Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion, and I Can’t Draw. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and dog. Visit him at Stephen-W-Martin.com.

I LOVE surprise endings. There is something pretty magical about turning the page and being totally shocked at what you find. It’s like a close up magic—you have the reader expecting one thing, and then you surprise them with something else.

For Charlotte and the Rock, that surprise ending wasn’t always there. My very first draft of the story was about a girl trying to get a dinosaur home to its dino parents… but the story wasn’t working—it was too complicated. I wanted something cleaner, with a singular protagonist and a very singular ‘goal/want’. So I tossed the original story out completely and kept just the concept of a rock being a dinosaur egg. This, I believe, is how a good surprise ending starts. You must know the ending first, and then everything you write can work up to that ending. I guess it’s a little like going on a road trip—first you need to know where you are going, and then you can plan how you are going to get there.

I have to say—my all-time favorite surprise ending comes from William Stieg's classic Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It’s another story about a rock—but that’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to spoil it for you. It’s a master class in suspense, so check it out.

Cheers,

Stephen

Thanks so much for joining us, Stephen!

You can find Stephen on his website at www.Stephen-W-Martin.com or on IG @StephenWMartin.

Surprise Endings: My Favorite Writing Trick with Elanna Allen

We are so excited to have Elanna Allen join us today to share information about surprise ending picture books!

There is nothing I love more than being surprised by the ending of a story.  Books like I WANT MY HAT BACK and THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK are great examples.  My book POOR LITTLE GUY also packs a real wallop at the end.  The ability to misdirect the expectations of your audience, and then deliver something fresh on the last page is my ultimate writing goal.  

I have spent a long time reading, studying, and reverse engineering the recipe for a surprise ending in order to write POOR LITTLE GUY.  I am very happy to share all of those ingredients with you here.  But a bit about me, before I spill the beans.

ABOUT ME

I’ve written or illustrated 12 children’s books, and a designed or directed many animated children’s television shows.  Here are some of the books I have written or illustrated:

POOR LITTLE GUY Dial Press

And here are some of the shows I have designed:

My book, ITSY MITSY RUNS AWAY, is now an animated series of shorts on Amazon Kids +.

THE ‘SURPRISE!’ RECIPE

Are you ready to learn the secret recipe in my surprising “surprise!” sauce?  Here it is:

  1. Come up with a simple PROBLEM.

  2. HINT at the ending.

 (don’t say it.  Make it subtle.  Something in the pictures, for example, but not in the words.  Make your reader think they’ve figured it out themselves.)

3. Drop a STRONGER HINT at how it will end.

4. Now make your reader DOUBT themselves. Maybe they got it wrong? Keep them guessing. Toy with them.

5. Make it REALLY OBVIOUS how it will end

(Now your reader will be smug – they knew it all along!

6. In the end, DO THE OPPOSITE!

Snicker to yourself.  Feel self-satisfied.  

Let me show you how this plays out in POOR LITTLE GUY:

  1. Right on the cover, I tell you THE PROBLEM – this fish is going to be eaten:

2. HINT AT THE ENDING:

Even the end papers make it clear:  yes, this fish is going to be eaten.

Now the story starts.  The first pages show a nervous fish, swimming in the ocean.

The next pages show a larger creature watching him.  Clearly, he’s going to be eaten.

3. Drop a STRONG HINT at how it will end.

Here we see a predator reach for the fish…

…and grab him!  This obnoxious octopus is a bully.  This fish is the victim.  Obviously!  

4. Now, make the reader doubt themselves

On the next page, we meet the octopus.  He seems like a nice guy in search of friends!!  

Or is he?

5. Make it really clear how this story will end

On this spread, I make it super duper clear that the fish WILL be eaten.  

6. Now DO THE OPPOSITE of what is expected! SURPRISE!!

The fishy is a blow fish!  Not so delicious!

7. Feel self satisfied and smug

Turns out, the POOR LITTLE GUY is the octopus!!  Ha!  

And that, my friends, is how you build yourself a surprise ending book.  Have you taken a crack at it?  Send them my way!  I’d love to see what you’ve done.

Thanks so much for joining us, Elanna!

You can find Elanna on her website at elannaallen.com or Facebook @elannaallen.