Although fun to read, and short, picture books are not easy to write. They require laser-like precision, elegance, humor, and a deft hand at using writing techniques. The picture book writer must do everything—or almost everything—a long form novelist must do and do it in approximately 500 words. That is: characterization and character arc, setting, tension, plot arc, mood, smooth pacing and, often, humor (whether that’s for a non-fiction picture book or fiction). So good picture books are a wonderful way to learn about, or teach, writing techniques.
This post covers 5 techniques you can find demonstrated in some of the best picture books. There are many titles I could have chosen to list below. These books happen to be titles I love. If you cannot find them in a bookstore, many may be found in a library. Also, some of the titles below can be used to demonstrate more than one technique. Hopefully, you will see how a good small-sized collection of picture books might be used to expand your understanding of literary techniques.
Allusion
Allusion is a reference to something that those who share our knowledge (literary, historical) or background (cultural) will understand. Allusion creates powerful writing through the use of compression.
Examples: “Surrender Dorothy,” written in the sky in Palatini’s Piggie Pie, or the titles of Dav Pilkey’s books.
- Margie Palatini, Piggie Pie
- Margie Palatini, Three Silly Billies
- Dav Pilkey, Dogzilla and Kat Kong
Alliteration (assonance & consonance)
Alliteration is generally defined as repeated initial word sounds. Subtypes include assonance and consonance. Assonance: repeated vowel sounds. Consonance: repeated consonant sounds.
Examples: In My Mountain Song I have these “m” alliterative opening lines: “In the mountains down south, morning is musical.” In Raccoon Tune Shaw writes: “Ash cans./Trash cans./How we love to crash cans,/Mash and smash and bash cans.” Another example is Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I’m off to the Moon! by Dan Yaccarino. (Assonance: vowel sound “oo.” Consonance: repeated “m” sound. Also, onomatopoeia in the word “zoom.”)
- Shutta Crum, My Mountain Song
- Margie Palatini, Piggie Pie
- Nancy Shaw, Raccoon Tune
- Dan Yaccarino, Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I’m off to the Moon!
- Also, many alphabet books
Caesura and Enjambment
Caesura: A pause or break in a line caused by a space, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point or other punctuation, for emphasis or to slow the pace.
Enjambment: A turning of the line, so sense and movement continues into the next line without stopping. Speeds up the poem or used for a playful feel. The opposite of an end-stopped line.
Examples: “A gopher and a mole/tunnel up through the floor./Then a wren and a raven/flutter in through the door.” That example is from Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. (Enjambment.) In Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley, the mean orphanage director Mrs. Sump gives her true thoughts away with the following lines: “That provokin’ little twerp—I mean dear child, Sweetness, has done escaped—I mean disappeared.” (Caesura.)
- Diane Stanley, Saving Sweetness
- Lisa Wheeler, Sailor Moo
- Karma Wilson, Bear Snores On
- Many poems by e. e. cummings use both techniques.
Irony (or poetic justice)
Irony is an outcome contrary to expectations, or a humorously sardonic statement. Related technique: Final fillip (smart tap). The ending that doubles back so the events of the story are not finished. This kind of ending is often ironical.
Examples: In Stanley’s Saving Sweetness, it’s the little orphan Sweetness who outwits Coyote Pete and saves the sheriff. (Irony.) In Martin’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom the bandaged young letters start back up the tree despite all the scrapes climbing up. (Final fillip.)
- Diane Stanley, Saving Sweetness
- Bill Martin, Jr, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Jules Feiffer, Bark, George
- Jackie French, Diary of a Wombat
- Arthur Yorinks, Company’s Coming
- Laura Numeroff, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Imagery
Imagery is a concrete representation that creates a picture in the reader’s/listener’s mind. Using imagery we move from the abstract to the particular. e.e. cummings said, “There is nothing as something as one.”
Examples: This is a wonderful image from Mannis’ book One Leaf Rides the Wind: “Adrift on eight pond pillows/pink-cheeked blossoms rest.” Or in the classic Shrek by William Steig, we find this image: “Shrek went slogging along the road, giving off his awful fumes.”
- Kate Hoefler, Real Cowboys
- Celeste Mannis. One Leaf Rides the Wind
- Cynthia Rylant, When I was Young in the Mountains
- William Steig, Shrek!
- Jane Yolen, Owl Moon
