Breakout Session: Writing Rhythm and Rhyme with Tameka Fryer Brown

Tameka Fyer Brown is a picture book author who writes to sow seeds of self-love, pride, connectivity, and inclusion in the hearts of children. Her books have won awards like the Charlotte Huck Honor Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award, and the Jane Addams Children's Book Honor Award. They have also been featured on best book lists by NPR, Parents Latina Magazine, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, New York Public Library, Kirkus, SLJ, Bank Street College, The Little Free Library, and more. Tameka’s picture books include Brown Baby Lullaby, Twelve Dinging Doorbells, Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm’s Fight for Change, and That Flag. She is a member of The Brown Bookshelf, Writers and Illustrators of North Carolina (WINC), and KidLit in Color.

Tameka Fryer Brown with her current picture books

Tameka offers inspiration: 

Anyone can learn to write picture books well, as long as you're willing to read lots and lots of mentor texts, and write about what you're passionate about.

Tameka thinks of rhythm as "the beat."

Rhythm + Rhyme = Flow

Flow is when folks see the PB as Lyrical, Evocative, Tight

To do this well, Tameka advises we need:

A consistent pattern of beats all through your manuscript. (except variations that are intentional and purposeful.)

Mellifluous language

Great read aloud

There will always be demand for rhyming picture books -- rhyme is good for kids learning how to read because of its predictive nature.

Make sure every single word and line moves the story forward, is clear, concise, and sensory-rich. (Don't rhyme just to rhyme.)

On Rhythm, 

Tameka reads us from her Brown Baby Lullaby, walking us through how we can "Check Your Flow":

Read it aloud

Tap it out

Natural Pronunciation (no cheating and making POPcorn popCORN)

Varied Emphasis

Tameka references music, talking about refrains and codas, and sharing tips and examples. (Like italicizing a word to make the cadence, emphasis, and meaning work.)

A caution: copy edits can change the rhythm. Tameka reminds us we can say STET (meaning keep it as is): "You get poetic license when you're writing in poetry."

There's so much more shared, and a Q&A - what a great session!

Kevin Lewis: The Truth About Trucks, Trains, and Toddlers: Creating Enduring Works for the Very Young

Kevin Lewis! Kevin Lewis! Kevin Lewis! I'd never heard him speak before and he's been one of the highlights of my conference. He's a former editor, current agent and author, so he really knows every facet of the market as well as cares about craft.

Run don't walk to any Kevin Lewis talk you can attend, he's also like Mem Fox in giving you a master class on how to read a story out loud.

Here're a few of my favorite things I learned from Kevin about writing for toddlers:

Keep it short.

Understand that your audience is going to exhibit their cognitive abilities. You think your manuscript can be longer than Eric Carlie’s Very Hungry Caterpillar? Think again. 

Make the reader (the parent) the star, and make it easy for them to star:

Sound it out, toddlers are just getting to know rich language, sound words are delicious and fantastic to include. Study Denise Fleming's (and Kevin's) books for great sound words and onomatopoeia.

Act it out. Give the parent actions to repeat that are fun or build anticipation during the reading, look at TICKLE MONSTER or PRESS HERE.

Clown around, let the parent/reader laugh, too. Look at books like SILLY SALLY or THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK.

Final thoughts from Kevin on writing for toddlers:

1. Incorporate good poetry into you, and it will spout out of you, you’ll find yourself finding good words and connecting things in your own work better.
2. Don’t act your age, lay on floor! See things from a toddler's perspective and strength.

"We get so caught up in teaching a child, that we forget we should be paying attention to what *they* want to learn."