Art by Michael Kress-Russick
SO…who is going to the
Wild Wild Midwest SCBWI Conference 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016 – Sunday, May 01, 2016
It is next weekend near Chicago and I can’t wait!
If you are a RhyPiBoMoer and are attending please stop by our
RhyPiBoMojito Party on Saturday Night.
We will have “Kid Lit-friendly” Mojitos and
you can add Rum to yours, if you like.
For those who already know me…we will have plastic cups ONLY! ; )
Stop by and say hello! I will post the place and time in the Facebook group so be watching for updated information.
Please RSVP in the Facebook Post so I can plan for snacks.
I can’t wait to meet you!
Art by Michael Kress-Russick
I met today’s Guest Blogger at the LA SCBWI Conference last summer. I attended her session on writing rhyming picture books…of course! We immediately connected over our love of RPBs and she kindly agreed to share an agent’s perspective on writing them.
I’m pleased to introduce
Literary Agent Alexandra Penfold
Alexandra Penfold photo by Donny Tsang
AN AGENT’S PERSPECTIVE ON RHYME
Rhyme can be fun! Rhyme can be funny! Rhyme can be playful and joyful and meaningful, too. But rhyme can also be dull and dry and boring. And when rhyme falls into those categories there are few things that are more tedious to read.
When you’re settled in at your computer and looking at a new draft on the screen, it’s important to ask yourself, “will this rhyme stand the test of time?” Because when you press send and share that manuscript with the world, that’s what an agent and editor are going to be asking.
If you’ve ever been to an SCBWI conference, you’ve probably heard editors say “Don’t send me rhyming picture book manuscripts.”
But if you go to the bookstore, you see books being published that are in rhyme. If no one is requesting rhyming texts, where are these picture books coming from? What gives?
I think the trouble is not the rhyming itself. It’s not an industry-wide distaste for poetry. It’s the abundance of bad rhyme that agents and editors see in their submissions that turns them off. Just like one apple can spoil the bunch, one bad rhymer can set an agent or editor’s eyes rolling and their mouse scrolling. Click, clack, delete.
As an agent, I’m looking for manuscripts that I think will stand the test of time. Ones that I know I’d have wanted to acquire when I sat on the editor’s side of the desk. Ones that I know readers would love to read again and again.
While rhyming picture books can break out, it’s important to consider why the manuscript is written in rhyme. Does this story need to be told in rhyme? Is rhyme the best vehicle for telling the story? Is the rhyme itself the reason for the story—i.e. sometimes a writer thinks of a rhyme and devises a plot around it. And this is where you need to be brutally honest with yourself, was that original rhyme so funny and so great that it deserves a story?
Rhyming text when not done well can be constraining your narrative voice. Even if you can maintain the story with the rhyming couplets, sometimes it might feel like the story has to meander a bit to get you that rhyme. With such a short and patterned text it can be hard to get a sense of a real voice. And that’s all the more challenging when you have meandering stanzas to hit all your beats.
Recently I’ve been utterly enchanted by Jonathan Fenske’s Geisel honor award winning book, A Pig, a Fox, and a Box.* With simple language and a buoyant rhyme scheme, not to mention spot on vocabulary for emerging readers, this deceptively simple early reader takes the reader through a rollicking rhyming story in three parts that begs for repeat reads. The front flap shows the titular, Fox with the text: “I have a box. I like to play. I think I will trick Pig today.” The set up and language are simple, but the humor and use of language are timeless. And most of all it’s joyful to read aloud. And that’s the sweet spot for any picture book.
*Mr. Fenske is not a client or acquaintance, so this is just unbiased fan gushing.
Bio
Alexandra Penfold is a Literary Agent at Upstart Crow Literary and has been working in publishing for over a decade. Formerly an Editor at Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, she specializes in young picture books, middle-grade fiction, and young adult. Prior to becoming an editor, Alexandra was a children’s book publicist. She worked on media campaigns that appeared in USA Today,Newsweek, US News and World Report, and NPR’s All Things Considered. She’s the co-author of New York a la Cart: Recipes and Stories from the Big Apple’s Best Food Trucks and the author of three picture books: Eat, Sleep, Poop!, illustrated by Jane Massey, out this fall from Knopf Books for Young Readers, as well as the forthcoming We Are Brothers, We Are Friends illustrated by Eda Kaban, about the special relationship between two young brothers and Food Truck Fest, illustrated by Mike Dutton, her first rhyming(!) picture book text.
New York a la Cart: Recipes and Stories from the Big Apple’s Best Food Trucks
Angie Karcher 
Kathy Mazurowski
Can’t read the food truck book! Thanks!
David McMullin. Thanks so much, Alexandra.
Rosemary Basham
Looking forward to reading your books!
Thank you, Alexandra, for sharing your rhyming insights. – Judy Rubin
Thanks for the insights
Donna Rossman:
Thank you, Alexandra for your informative and helpful agent’s perspective. I’m looking forward to reading Food Truck Feast!!! 🙂
Kristi Veitenheimer – Thanks for the helpful insights!
Wendi Silvano
Thanks Alexandra… for a great post!
susan schade
Thank you! I am still laughing about “Click, Clack, delete.”
I enjoyed your post.
Stephanie Salkin
Thank you! Spot on advice.
Elizabeth Saba- congratulations on your success and for these great words of advice!
Thanks for this advice! I’ll be brutally honest after writing my next rhyming PB and asking myself if my original rhyme is funny enough and strong enough to deserve a story. — Rebecca Colby
Jill Giesbrecht – thank you for the reminder to be very diligent before submitting anything – especially a RPB!
(Katelyn Aronson) “Will this rhyme stand the test of time?” A good rule of thumb, indeed. Thank you, Alexandra.
Linda Hofke
How embarrassing! A Pig, A Fox, and a Box won an award and I had never heard of it before! That’s one of the disadvantages of living overseas. It’s hard to keep up on what’s current/new in the market. I must find this book. Thanks for recommending it.
“Will this rhyme stand the test of time?” That’s a great question to ask when reading over manuscripts (and I like that the question rhymes) 🙂
Joy Main – Thank you Alexandra. This is a good reminder to have our manuscripts critiqued well to ensure other people think they’re great, and not just us!
Natalie McNee
Thanks for the agent’s perspective Alexandra!
Many thanks for the post Alexandra! An agent’s perspective is very helpful and yes, opening up the WIP’s to revise, rework, create! Also, now most anxious to read A Pig, A Fox and A Box.
Maritza M. Mejia
Thanks you Alexandra for your agent’s perspective. Great ideas!
MaryLee Flannigan
Thank you Alexandra for your advice and congratulations on all of your successes. The mention of NY food trucks made me hungry. I look forward to meeting you at the upcoming Midwest Conference!
Deborah Allmand
Alexandra what a wealth of information you have given us. As an author, and now an agent your advice is invaluable.
Another good reminder of how important spot-on rhyme is! Thanks, Alexandra.
Pat Haapaniemi
Linda Schueler: Will this rhyme stand the test of time? A good question to remember.
Thank you, Alexandra. A Pig, A Fox and A Box sounds like a great mentor text. Manju Howard
It was interesting and extremely helpful to read about rhyming texts from an agent’s perspective and to get a personal reflection of what works and what won’t. Your suggestion to keep asking, “Will this rhyme stand the test of time?” will become the mantra of many–including myself. Thanks, Alexandra, for your candor!
Debbie Smart
Alexandra, Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your insights. I appreciate your perspective and suggestions. Thank you so much!
Daryl Gottier- Thanks for the view from the agent’s desk.
Kirsti Call
I can’t wait to read your books, Alexandra. It’s always good to get the perspective from the other side.
Thanks!
Melissa Stoller –
Hi Alexandra – thanks for your great advice…especially about writing books that will stand the test of time! I look forward to reading your forthcoming books!
This was a great reminder why it’s hard to sell rhyming picture books! Now that I’m in a position to work with other Rhymers, I see how subjective our sense of our meter is. Looks like some more books to buy! Sherry Howard
Ann Magee
Thanks, Alexandra, for the important reminder that the story comes first, not the rhyme.Important stuff!
Andria Rosenbaum
Rhyme should be timeless and roll off the tongue,
And sing when it’s read by those older, or young.
Thank you, Alexandra
I agree with others that the question you presented — “Will this rhyme stand the test of time?” is worth considering. Also, I’m finding it to be true what you said about losing the voice as we try to fit our text into the confines of rhyme and meter. Thanks for your post and thanks for providing the mentor text. I look forward to reading it.
Debbie McCue
Rebecca Snyder, Thanks Alexandra for putting poetry in perspective and giving me permission to attempt, explore the delightful possibilities of rhyming. I used to drive my kids crazy rhyming out instructions to them when they were young. My grandkids, however, love it when I rhyme them a story, But your questions are noteworthy and helpful to ask if this will appeal to an unknown audience.
DebbieLubbert I’ll have to read those. Thanks for the post!
How could I have missed a book about a pig a fox and a box? Great advice to heed about making our rhyme sparkle before hitting the send button.
Mary Warth
Thanks so much for the agent perspective!
Thanks so much for sharing your pearls of wisdom as both an author and an agent.
Laura Renauld –
My boys and I recently borrowed A Pig, A Fox, and A Box from the library. What a hoot! My youngest is still talking about it. Its simplicity (after MUCH hard work, I’m sure!) and kid-appeal are spot on. Thanks for sharing this great mentor text!
Shelley Kinder
Thank you, Alexandra, for great insights. I love your example of A Pig, A Fox, and a Box. It’s a good reminder that simple language is OK if it’s humorous, timeless, and fun to read aloud.
Great insight! Thank you for your post!
Kristen Foote
Jena Benton
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
These are great suggestions, especially the one about will the rhyme stand the test of time.
Thanks for your post!
Therese Nagi
Ann Kelley
Thank you for your all insights and the great info!
Great perspective on standing the test of time! That will be buzzing in my head going forward. Thanks for sharing your insight!
~Jen Garthe
Thank you for your insight and perspectives about rhyme! Great questions for us to reflect upon.
Deirdre Englehart
Congrats on your books, Alexandra!
Well, now I have to go get that PB to see how the story ends! 🙂
Thank you, Alexandra! I’ve enjoyed hearing you speak the past two years at SCBWI LA and now reading your post. Your honesty and insight, combined with your diverse industry background, is tremendously useful in guiding aspiring authors. Thanks for your time and dedication to SCBWI.
❤ the food truck books.
thanks,
Aimee Haburjak