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Shapes at Home
A Rookie Toddler board book

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

Familiar photos from around the house help toddlers learn to identify the shapes all around them.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

There are only four words on the first two pages of this nonfiction board book:

circle
See the circle.

The first shape is named on the left (reverso) page:

circle

The facing page on the right (recto) page shows the shape in a home:

See the circle.

The use of labels and short simple sentences helps toddlers memorize the words and “read” the book by themselves, an important step in early literacy.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Finding the Rhyme in a Poem (Write Me a Poem)
by Valerie Bodden (Author)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

An elementary exploration of rhyme and rhythm in poetry, introducing syllables, rhyme schemes, and sonnets as well as poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Includes a writing exercise.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

The second spread in the Beat and Rhythm chapter says:

POEMS are a lot like music. When you read a poem, you can hear its rhythm (RIH-thum). In music, instruments or voices make the rhythm and keep the beat. But in poetry, rhythm is made by the words.

The paragraph begins with a comparison:

POEMS are a lot like music.

Then the new term is introduced. A phonetic spelling is included:

When you read a poem, you can hear its rhythm (RIH-thum).

The comparison is expanded:

In music, instruments or voices make the rhythm and keep the beat.

The paragraph ends with more information about the new idea:

But in poetry, rhythm is made by the words.

The simplest way to explain something new is to compare it to something that the readers already know.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!