As a man thinketh of James Allen, in rhyme (Great books rendered in rhyme Book 2)

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Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidity into circum- stances of destitution and disease: On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances: A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances.

A man can- not directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances. Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.

Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften towards him, and be ready to help him; let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts, and lo! The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colours which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pic- tures of your ever-moving thoughts. The human Will, that force unseen, The offspring of a deathless Soul, Can hew a way to any goal, Though walls of granite intervene. Be not impatient in delay, But wait as one who understands; When spirit rises and commands, The gods are ready to obey.

It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be de- liberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the com- mand of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speed- ily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as surely though less rapidly.

The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly de- moralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shat- ter the nervous system. Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigour and grace. The body is a JMAH delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.

Men will continue to have impure and poi- soned blood so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and a corrupt body. Thought is the fount of action, life, and mani- festation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.

Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food. Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so- called saint who does not wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified his thoughts does not need to consider the ma- levolent microbe. If you would perfect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disap- pointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.

A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, pride. I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent face of a girl. I know a man well under middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious contours.

The one is the result of a sweet and sunny disposition; the other is the outcome of passion and discontent. As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and goodwill and serenity.

On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy; others by strong and pure thought, and others are carved by passion: With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on his death- bed. He was not old except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived. There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill for dispers- ing the shadows of grief and sorrow.

To live continually in thoughts of ill-will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self- made prisonhole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.

With the majority the barque of thought is allowed to "drift" upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction. They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pity ings, all of which are indi- cations of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins though by a dif- ferent route , to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.

A man should conceive of a legitimate pur- pose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought-forces upon the object which he has set [30] before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wan- der away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings.

This is the royal road to self-con- trol and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his pur- pose as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome , the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and. Those who are not prepared for the apprehen- sion of a great purpose, should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear.

Only in this way can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution and energy be de- veloped, which being done, there is nothing which may not be accomplished. The weakest soul, knowing its own weak- ness, and believing this truth that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will, thus believing, at once begin to exert it- self, and, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never [3'] cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.

As the physically weak man can make him- self strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking. To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accom- plish masterfully.

Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigor- ously excluded; they are disintegrating ele- ments which break up the straight line of ef- fort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always lead to failure.

Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in. The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts him- self at every step.

He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are season- ably planted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit which does not fall prematurely to the ground. Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute.

A man's weakness and strength, purity and im- purity, are his own, and not another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by him- self, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains. A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another.

None but himself can alter his condition. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the mis- applied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion em- braces both oppressor and oppressed.

He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts. Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in or- der to succeed, give up all animality and sel- fishness, by any means; but a portion of it [35] must, at least, be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking.

Not having commenced manfully to control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently and stand alone. But he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses. There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a man's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his con- fused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strength- ening of his resolution and self-reliance.

And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements. The universe does not favour the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtu- ous. All the great Teachers of the ages have de- clared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to persist in making him- [36]. A self more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts. Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowl- edge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature.

Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics; they are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts. Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.

Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid of animahty, indolence, impurity, cor- ruption, and confusion of thought a man de- scends. A man may rise to high success in the world, [37] and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretched- ness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.

Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure. All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method ; the only difference lies in the object of attainment.

He who would accomplish little must sacri- fice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly. As the visible world is sustained by the invisi- ble, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which it shall one day see and know. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven.

The world is beautiful because they have lived ; without them, labour- ing humanity would perish. He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it.

Co- lumbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it; Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it; Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it. To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Shall man's basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspira- tions starve for lack of sustenance? Such is not the Law: Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but per- ceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You can- not travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labour; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refine- ment. But he dreams of better things; he thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty.

He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life; the vision of a wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he uti- lizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent pow- ers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities which fit the scope of his expand- ing powers, he passes out of it forever.

Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind which he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequalled power. I inserted a few art notes for clarification. What was the impetus for this book and how long did it take you to get to the finished product?

This book started out in prose and actually went through tons of revisions. It took about three years from submitting to publications. The main inspiration was watching my kids play. I always loved it when they incorporated stories from books into their playtime. I started noticing how playing and reading went together more than people might think. My advice for rhyming writers is, keep practicing, and make sure that you sometimes write just for pleasure. That is, silence the inner critic at the beginning, or else it might stifle your creativity.

Finally, a good critique group or several partners is a must! Diana Murray grew up in New York City and still lives nearby with her husband, two daughters, and a spiky bearded dragon who loves listening to stories—especially about dinosaurs. In fact, even high school math teachers can use Twinderella as a quirky, unique teaching tool. I had heard that it takes seven years on average to make your first sale.

I was lucky to get plucked from the slush in less than two. Needless to say, I was very pleased with myself. Then… it took six and half years before I sold another manuscript! Serves me right for being cocky. How long does it take you to write a rhyming picture book? As all rhymers know, it can takes a LOT of work to get the rhyme and meter just right. Once I have an idea I love, I usually get a first draft down in a couple of weeks.

It is really important to get the story right first. So I revise with an eye toward plot structure. Does it have enough tension? A satisfactory ending, etc. Once, I feel confident that the story arc is totally working, that is when I focus on tweaking the rhyme and meter. All in all, it generally takes about four or five months and roughly drafts. I get nearly all of my ideas from my kids! They were constantly providing me with material when they were little. Now that they are both in middle school, I am having a tough time.

Josh is in the oven! How many rhyming picture books have you written? Maybe a better question is how many non-rhyming pictures have I written? That is not totally true. Rhyme is what I do best. My stories are not character-driven or plot-driven. How did you find the inspiration for Twinderella? Every year, I participate in what is now called Storystorm. In , I came up with dozens of Goldilocks variations. Two of the ideas were as follows: Neither idea went anywhere, but they both kept nagging at me.

Then during Storystorm , it suddenly hit me. There was a perfect way to combine the two. Do you see yourself in any of your characters? I actually see myself in Twinderella. Math was always my favorite subject in school. Like Tinderella, I see math as a fun, challenging puzzle to be solved. I love how logical it is. I was even a math teacher for a while and in my first draft of Twinderella, Tin wound up teaching math too! A multiple award-winning songwriter for children and a former elementary teacher, Ode travels throughout the country sharing his stories, poetry, and music at schools, festivals, and education conferences.

She is currently earning International recognition for three picture books she illustrated for Ariella Books of Berlin, Germany. Nancy earned a B. She works full-time from her home studio in the historic village of Somerset, MA. She lives in Nebraska with her husband, three kids, two poodles, and one parrotlet. She lives in Northern California with her feline muse, Bella.

Visit her online at DeborahUnderwoodBooks. Linda Ashman is the author of more than thirty-five picture books including, most recently, Ella WHO? Linda lives in Chapel Hill, NC, with her husband, two dogs, and—on school breaks—their college-age son. You can learn more about Tammi at www. Sharon Chriscoe may not vroom around a race track, but she does zip and zoom around in a bread truck with her husband, Ricky. Fueled with fresh bread, snacks, and writing tools, Sharon has made this her mobile office! She and her husband live in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina.

They have three adult children and one adorable grandchild, as well as an assortment of dogs, cats, bunnies and occasionally a groundhog. To learn more about Sharon, her books, and future events, visit her website: Published by little bee books, a division of Bonnier Publishing. Her three most recent releases— Whose Hands Are These? Learn more at www. Jill Esbaum is the author of 11 picture books, many written in rhyme.

Recent titles include If a T. Jill is also the author of more than 20 nonfiction books for National Geographic. Jill created a group blog of fellow picture book writers and illustrators called Picture Book Builders www. She is on Twitter JEsbaum. The Best in Rhyme Award nominations are underway! I want to thank the Best in Rhyme Committee who is a group of truly amazing writers and friends! This group, led by Manju Gulati Howard and Debbie Vidovich read, scored and blogged about the Top 10 books on the list.

This is quite a time consuming job and these ladies deserve a roaring round of applause! Here is the list of Top 10 Best in Rhyme Books. Please find these and read them, as they are fantastic! I will be naming a winner and 3 honor books this year. Watch for the link to the live stream, coming soon. Little Excavator is the rollicking tale of a young excavator trying hard to find his place in the grownup world. He fails and fails again! With pluck and determination, Little Ex finds the one special thing that only he can do. Kids of all ages will relate to this universal tale of finding the specialness in each of us.

Go Little Excavator, go! She had sidelined it for a long time due to other obligations. According to Reed, Anna worked throughout her illness to finish it, altering her painting technique to accommodate her limitations. It was a true labor of love. She asked him to read it to her the day she died.

What was her inspiration for the story? Anna loved the Little Excavator character. The inspiration comes from when she and I were restoring our home; we have some large, deep stone-mill foundations on our property and in the process of preserving these stone foundations we encountered some small, tight spots that only a little excavating machine could successfully get to. And the idea was born…. It may take some figuring out before we come to know our special talents and how to employ them, but everybody has them.

How did Anna feel about that? Her adult characters always do exactly the right thing. How do you think kids will relate to that? She really understood them. Can you tell us a bit about her experience bringing her stories to publication? Anna spent many years working with children — her own and also her students when she was a teacher.

Those day-to-day experiences that we all can relate to are a big part of what make her books so immediate to her readers. She worked for many years as a freelance illustrator until her own stories got published. She also worked as a waitress and as a rural mail carrier and as a housesitter in addition to teaching; for her, making art was the only thing that mattered and everything else was just in support of those artistic goals.

She worked with limited success for about 20 years before the first Llama Llama book came out. Llama, Llama Red Pajama was my first mentor book. Her vibrant colors and sweet faced animals are appealing to kids and adults alike. Can you tell us a little about her process and when she decided to be her own illustrator?

Anna began drawing and painting and inventing characters and stories when she was a very little girl. She always had a high sense of theatre and drama and she imagined her stories very visually, so for her the story and the image were inseparable. A story would unfold for her not just in a narrative arc, but also graphically and with strong color-value relation. I see Anna everytime I see that picture of Little E. Is that true and when can we expect them? A world without more Llama llama would be a dreary world indeed. Lots of stories, some Llama stories and several others too.

My hope is to bring as many of these to the public as I can over time. And of course there are several other Llama books coming out all the time: My Book of Memories that comes out in January of This first season features 30 animated episodes. All the familiar characters have roles and there are some new characters who appear too. Jennifer Garner voices the Mama Llama character and she is fabulous in that role — loving and warm and funny and perfect.

A huge amount of care and attention went into the development of every detail of this show, from the storylines to the original music to the animation and color palette and to the voices of the characters. They bounced ideas off each other all day in regards to storyline, color etc. Best of luck to Reed and the team at Penguin books. Thank you Reed for this loving and insightful glimpse into Anna and her process. The young witch wants to find a spell to turn her typical cat named Wizzlewarts into a spooktacular pet, so she can win first prize in the pet show. After Grimelda the Very Messy Witch was published, you shared in an interview that you lose things like your young witch.

Am I the only one who thinks snails are super cute? As for the newts, one of them escaped from its tank and I ended up finding it in a kitchen drawer. That was quite a Grimelda-like surprise! Once you brainstormed the concept for this sequel, did you go through a similar writing process as your first Grimelda book? What aspect of writing rhyming picture books do you find most challenging?

Since it was a sequel, the process was pretty different more collaboration with the publisher, etc. As far as technical details, I kept the meter and rhyme scheme the same in the sequel and tried to mimic the original refrain. In general, I think there are two main difficulties when it comes to writing any story in rhyme: Making the language sound natural rather than forced.

Taking control of the story and not letting the rhymes make you meander or take too long to get to the point. Did you include art notes in your Grimelda manuscripts? What ended up being your favorite spread in the book? I made a few illustrator notes just for clarification. But yes, the final art was full of surprises for me! For example, the creatures at the pet show were unlike anything I had imagined.

I think the pet show spread is probably my favorite. There are so many wonderful details to pore over. She made it float! And the frog who turns into a prince always gets a laugh when I read the book to kids. How are the Grimelda books marketed? Does having a series based on a witch give both books a longer shelf life than the Halloween season? But I still find they are mostly promoted at Halloween. They were in some Halloween bookstore displays, for example. But the marketing is not something I have much control over.

How many polished manuscripts did you have when querying your agent? Did you have a website prior to publication? Do you use social media to promote your work? She was particularly interested in Grimelda and Ned and signed me up on the basis of those. They both sold fairly quickly.

I had many, many other picture book manuscripts maybe 25? I did have a website, but it was not as polished as the one I have now. It had a little background information and listed some of my poetry sales and awards. It was very simple. I do use social media—mostly Twitter and Facebook.

I mainly use them to stay in touch with others in the business, but I also post information about new book sales, releases, and contests and such. Diana, Thank you for taking the time to share your writing world with us. Thank you for the opportunity! The five hardworking crew members from Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, written by Sherri Duskey Rinker and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, are back and gearing up for a new day and a new job.

She turns, she spins—she does a trick! Did you notice that Skid is a girl truck? So is Flatbed Truck, another new crew member. In this story of teamwork and hard work, an original crew member is paired with a new crew member. Their work can get back underway. This story ends with a reference to the previous book that fans will understand, but the story stands alone and complete with plenty of action, fun word play and rhyme, and solid information about the construction process. How This All Began In , in the midst of hectically trying to manage the demands of being a working mom in a career I no longer loved, I wrote Construction Site , and it was picked up by the first publisher to whom it was sent Thank you, Chronicle!

Could it be the devious Baron von Waffle? A fetid fish lurking in the bottom of Corn Chowder Lake? Oh my flapjack-a-doodle, I loved this picture book! Hall in his next picture book! Hall in his next picture book. Did you ever imagine that breakfast foods could be so profitable for you?

See a Problem?

Speaking of your rhyming picture books, which comes first when you write: Story is the most important part of a rhyming picture book. In fact, the second most important part of a rhyming picture book is the rhythm. Rhyme is actually the least important part of a rhyming picture book. How did you come to write so comically? Funny things that I could never draw. Like a pancake and French toast racing through the fridge causing culinary chaos. It just lends itself to hilarity. Starting with the character design whipped cream hairdo, strawberry hat — those were all his ideas and spreading throughout the entire fridge setting.

So what do you have coming out next year? But I think lots of kids will relate to Albie Newton and the other kids in his class. In this first book, they use fundamental coding concepts to construct the perfect beach day using sequences, loops, and if-then-else statements — but using them in real world situations. This is the first picture book about Patience and Fortitude, the two lion statues that faithfully guard the New York Public Library in fact, this book is published in partnership with the NYPL.

When Patience goes missing, Fortitude realizes that Patience has ventured inside the library. So for the first time ever, Fortitude abandons his post to search for Patience before the sun rises and we, the readers, get to explore the library for the first time alongside Fortitude. I have lots to say about this subject, but most importantly I think rhyming picture book writers should remember that ALL picture books especially rhyming ones are meant to be read aloud to children usually by adults.

It has to work for people with all accents and from all regions — which means that you have to be very careful when using words that people pronounce differently — especially regarding the rhythm! The dictionary will tell you it has 3 — but many people pronounce it with 2. So putting the word family in the middle of a line could screw up the rhythm for some readers. Then think about how many words are just like that in your story.

So have your manuscripts read aloud TO you by everyone — especially the worst readers out there. Listen for places where they screw up — and then fix those spots. Thanks so much for honoring The Case of the Stinky Stench with Best in Rhyme consideration and inviting me to answer some questions! Thank you , Josh! Josh grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes manuscripts.

Josh is terrible at writing bios, so please help fill in the blanks. For more information about Josh Funk, visit him at http: The year was Since we both live in the Midwest, I feel a special connection to you. Just wish we lived closer, as you live in Indiana and I live in Illinois. The folks in Evansville, Indiana must be proud of your rhyming picture book about a historical landmark. The true story captures special family traditions and community spirit. How wonderful for everyone to come together to restore the 35 foot tall Santa. Tell us about these gatherings with a variety audiences, including your Mom.

What fun and joy for all. Yes, it was quite a busy few weeks promoting this book! I recently looked back and counted all the book signings, readings, school visits, etc. It was so much fun to read this story to kids and adults alike. Those who are familiar with the Santa statue in my area often teared up, as many grew up with Santa waving to them as a child.

It has been such a fun and heartwarming project. It was expecially fun reading the story to the residents of the nursing home where my mother lives. Those folks all knew about the statue and were telling me fun stories about Santa. It was a special day. Every writer has a unique journey along the writerly path of becoming published.

Share some tips and advice for those who continue read, write, and submit.

Cheap as a man thinketh deals

My advice is never give up! If this is truly your passion, then keep at it. When I say professionally, I mean that writing is my job. I regularly attend writing conferences, take classes, teach classes, do manuscript critiques for other writers and present at schools and conferences. Create a writing platform that will bring you exposure as a writer and enable you to network with others. My suggestions is that you find a platform that will help others. Once you figure out what your platform is, then do everything you can to promote it, invite others to participate and celebrate writing!

These are people you can trust with your writing and your heart. Writing is an emotional business and we all need a support group. Did you share illustration notes or your vision of the illustrations with Dana Karcher, illustrator?

Because they are a small publisher, Dana and I were given free reign to collaborate. This was her first picture book and my first illustrated picture book so…we worked very hard to get it right. We talked through every single page, making notes and sharing ideas. It was so exciting to see the words come to life on the page.

The day I read the finished book to myself was the highlight of my career. I absolutely love the art! What is your current WIP? What projects are you working on? You can check out the details HERE. Dana and I have two titles coming out this year with M. I have more exciting news coming soon! I am a closet illustrator.

I love sketching and painting. I am taking some illustration classes and hopefully will be working on a portfolio this year. Thank you, Angie, for celebrating the love of reading with all readers—young and old. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book. So sit back, relax and experience the magic of Christmas. Claus by the reindeer barn. Combining Christmas and pirates is such a fun and unique mash-up! How did this concept first come to you and what was your goal for this story? Your love of rhyme is obvious! How long have you been a rhymer and what has it taken to get both your rhythm and rhyme to this level of publishing perfection?

Also, how do you decide whether your story will be written in rhyme or not? How has that effected your picture book writing and please tell us about any impacts it may have also had on your US publishing and promotional aspects, as well. Thank you, Rebecca and much continued success!! Hi Cathy, so nice to visit here. I emailed to congratulate her and we corresponded off and on. Diana is, by the way, the first author to have two books on the 10 Best in Rhyme List for a second year! Quite an accomplishment Sherri: What advice do you have for rhyming writers?

No rest for the weary rhymers!!! How long have you been writing? Where do you get your ideas? Goldilocks has a surprise twin sister?

Cedargrove Mastermind Group (Author of As a Man Thinketh, of James Allen, in Rhyme)

Congratulations on the great reviews for Flashlight Night! This is your first picture book, but have you had other rhyming work published? That set me on my path. Since then, several of my poems have been published in literary journals and anthologies. A friend told me about SCBWI, I joined a local critique group, and began studying the craft as well as the market a hugely important and often underestimated aspect of writing for children.

Your voice talent background taught you to pay attention to how written words sound when read aloud. Was this helpful to you in writing picture books? Yes, it was…but what was more important was my ability to write radio copy e. When writing a second or second radio commercial, one needs to create interest on some type of emotional level; introduce a problem; offer a solution; and then conclude the message. Which do you find more challenging when writing, perfect rhyme or perfect meter? Perfect rhyme, no question. As long as the text flows, make sure those rhymes are as good as they can be.

What would you say to encourage those of us who write in rhyme? This is another reason why having a solid, universal story — and text that can be appreciated even in prose —is so important. One of my first book signings was at night, and we displayed the book on a projection screen so everyone could see. I talked about the book a little bit, then showed the kids some shadow puppets on the screen, and everyone left with a small flashlight of their own! Before the signing I visited the on-campus preschool and read to three groups of young children, and by the time the signing rolled around many of their parents were requesting copies!

Will your next book be in rhyme, too? Please take time to read these wonderful rhyming picture books! Congratulations to the all the authors and illustrators! The Best in Rhyme committee is a group of dedicated Rhyme Revolution members. They have been busy reading, reviewing and scoring the nominated rhyming picture books for Members of the Rhyme Revolution Group nominated books for consideration. Many thanks to this wonderful committee!! I never actually set out to write in rhyme.

The first stories I wrote were in prose. But when the idea for The Snatchabook came to me — and it came pretty much fully formed — the story itself seemed to dictate that it should be written in verse. I knew that I had to create an atmosphere of suspense and mystery, and to draw the reader in from the very beginning of the story. Writing in rhyme seemed an effective and natural way to achieve this. This opening 4-line stanza is written in monorhyme the last word in each line rhyming with all the other last words for a specific purpose; to foreshadow the events of the story and to link the two main characters, Eliza and the Snatchabook who will, of course, eventually become friends.

The first and fourth lines introduce an element of suspense, suggesting to the reader that something scary is about to happen. Monorhyme should, in general, be used sparingly to avoid becoming tedious , but it can be an effective device in the right place. In every house, in every bed, A bedtime book was being read. Tales of dragons, spitting flames; Witches, playing spooky games; Pirates, on the seven seas; Princesses, trying to sleep on peas.

From a personal perspective, I find this rhyme scheme and meter quite lulling — suitable for a bedtime story. It seems to encourage a slow reading, with each line being savoured. Of course, the pace can be upped for moments of high drama: She threw the window open wide And shouted to the Thing outside: Eliza Brown was very strict. Leo was a gentle knight In thought and word and deed. While other knights liked fighting, Leo liked to sit and read. I find this rhyme scheme more conversational and a little jauntier than AABB , so it felt more suitable for the story of Leo, forced to undertake a quest by his pushy parents.

I particularly like the way that the final rhyme in each 4-line stanza can deliver a punchline, or subtly subvert the rest of the verse: A dragon needed taming!

When I start writing a new story, there is often a particular rhyme and not necessarily the first that comes into my head, and which then dictates the rhyme scheme of the book. I smell a rat. As the story took shape, new lines grew around the original two, which actually come about two thirds of the way through the story: Sometimes, it can be fun to add a twist to a rhyme scheme.

Here is an example: You can run out of time. You can run out money. By breaking with the original rhyme scheme and introducing a refrain, the central message of the story is reinforced, and the key word love is given its own, un-rhymed status. Good luck if you are writing your own rhyming story!

Before becoming an author, Helen used to teach Spanish and French. Helen has lived and worked in France, Spain, Cuba and Mexico, and now lives in Swansea, Wales, with her husband, the author and illustrator Thomas Docherty, and their two daughters. Her first rhyming story, The Snatchabook illustrated by Thomas Docherty , has been translated into 17 languages.

In it won an award voted for by school children. It has also been staged as a play and even as an opera, by a school in Canada. I Will Repeat Them with a Mouse. The street signs, the storefronts, the conversations on the sidewalk… Nothing looks or sounds quite like we expect. Then, when the familiar does come along — a Starbucks in Rome or an English-speaking pedestrian in Cusco — it jumps out with the intensity of a spotlight.

I think this helps explain why repetition is such a powerful and effective element in picture books — and in rhyming picture books especially. Or consider the enthusiasm that erupts from the story time circle when the librarian shares Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The children know that line is coming. They expect and look forward to it. And when it does, they join in with pep rally enthusiasm. Repetition, whether the child knows it or not, is often what makes one particular story a favorite, the book a child goes back to again and again until Daddy is ready to hide it under the couch.

So how and where do we put repetition to work in our own writing? For starters, pages can open with a repeated line. Of course lines of repetition can wrap up a page. I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I never wipe it clean. I just sniff and snuff about. Placed at the end of a page, repetition can build anticipation. Repetition can be scattered about the story like splattered paint on canvas.

My own Too Many Tomatoes repeats the title seven times over the course of the story, sometimes at the beginning of a stanza, other times in the middle or at the end. When it comes to picture books, familiarity does not breed contempt but contentment. Read the blog post and comment below to be eligible for a prize. On the day the seed for the story was planted in my mind, the wind was blowing hard. It was a beautiful, sunny, Fall afternoon and my husband had just come home from work.

He entered through the door in my studio. The wind caught the door and slammed it against the wall. A powerful gust of wind entered the room blowing my notebooks and folders to the floor. My two dogs scrambled to get to them before I could. One of the folders that contained photos I had taken of my neighbor Leonard in his writing studio, spilled out under trampling dog feet. At that moment, the thought expanded.

I imagined if Leonard was standing outside in his yard, that whatever would blow downhill just might land in his beard.

Books by Cedargrove Mastermind Group

Since my eccentric neighbor wore a large red beard, everything might get caught and trapped in that beard. I literally felt the rhythm of the day bouncing in my head as the first line of the story was etched in my mind. There was no question that this stormy story sang a song. The story of a writer who loses his direction, then finds it due to a wind storm, blew into my imagination and was set free on the wings of rhyme.

I believe that instinctually you know through the characters, subject matter and intent of the story, what style of writing will compliment that story. Like a symphony, music is intended to convey a mood, and I believe writing style does the same. If you allow yourself to be free of overanalyzing and controlling, the expression will come naturally. That is the magic. Watch for more Rhyme Time every Wednesday in April. Librarians, teachers, parents and kids…please comment below to be eligible to win a prize. When you read it, the words roll off your tongue in a rhythmic cascade, making it a real pleasure to read aloud.

But there is more to a good rhyming picture book than its flawless meter and rhyme. What makes a rhyming picture book more than a good story that rhymes is the way the author uses language. When an author uses poetic techniques beyond rhyme and meter in the text, it becomes less like a rhyming story and more like poetry.

Here are some ways that you can use poetic techniques to make your rhyming picture books truly shine. Assonance, consonance, and alliteration. These can be delightful surprises, like the cream filling in cupcake! Brothers tumbled, bumble-jumble, as they stumbled for the door. These little words and phrases can show a lot with just one word!

Consider the words pop , scritch , or bang. Each of them gives you an impression of something happening behind the sound, such as a balloon bursting, a fingernail scratching, or a door slamming shut. Using repetition in your writing can build tension, create emphasis, or encourage young readers to anticipate what is coming.

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