By Eric Ode
Ilustrated by Kent Culotta
I Will Repeat Them in a House. I Will Repeat Them with a Mouse.
by Author Eric Ode
It’s an off-balance feeling. That sensation that comes with international travel, when we’ve put ourselves in a place where the language, sights, and customs are unfamiliar. 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.
Familiarity grounds us. Comforts us. Gives us confidence. I think this helps explain why repetition is such a powerful and effective element in picture books – and in rhyming picture books especially. While a story’s vocabulary, setting, and characters might be new and confusing, repetition provides the child with something reassuring.
Think about that child you know who learned to “read” Green Eggs and Ham before they could read Green Eggs and Ham. It didn’t take many bedtimes with Sam and his floppy-eared friend before “I will not eat them with a…,” was tucked in that child’s back pocket like a shiny pebble.
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 works! 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. Several pages in Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama Red Pajama begin with the book’s title.
Repetition can roll around someplace in the middle of the stanzas like in Ogden Nash’s The Adventures of Isabel. (“Isabel, Isabel didn’t worry, Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.”) This repetition builds a framework for the story, like the repeating beams of a skyscraper.
Of course lines of repetition can wrap up a page. (All together now! “I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.”) There’s Patricia Thomas’ “Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” (“Oh, please. Don’t sneeze!”) Or one of my favorites, Reeve Lindbergh’s There’s a Cow in the Road. (“Then the cow looks at me, and the cow says, ‘Moo!’ And the next thing I know, there’s a ______ there too!”)
In their delightful I’m a Dirty Dinosaur, Janeen Brian and Ann James take the last line of each stanza and repeat it in a chant-like fashion.
I’m a dirty dinosaur
with a dirty snout.
I never wipe it clean.
I just sniff and snuff about.
SNIFF, SNIFF, SNUFF, SNUFF, SNIFF AND SNUFF ABOUT!
Placed at the end of a page, repetition can build anticipation. What’s going to happen next?
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.
Still other books – Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, for instance – are built almost entirely upon repetition.
Do you have a rhyming picture book manuscript that’s feeling less-than-grounded? Three words: Repetition, repetition, repetition. When it comes to picture books, familiarity does not breed contempt but contentment.
Eric Ode is the author of ten picture books including the rhyming picture books Dan, the Taxi Man; Busy Trucks on the Go; and Too Many Tomatoes (Kane Miller Books) and Bigfoot Does Not Like Birthday Parties (Sasquatch/Little Bigfoot Books). 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. Visit www.ericode.com.
Angie Karcher 
You mentioned many reasons why repetition in stories is great for kids and I agree. Also, from a parent/teacher/adult point of view, it makes the story so much fun to read.
You’ve included some great books in this post but there are two I am not familiar with. Now I need to go find them. Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks, Linda. Happy hunting!
Good reminder about repetition. Thank you for taking the time to post here so we all can learn from you.
Thank you, Nadine!
Repetition reassures beginning readers and is also suited for students learning English as a second or other language. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful point!
I’ve been trying this with some of my stories. I’ll keep trying, keep trying, keep trying…
Just keep swimming… 😄
Words of wisdom with regard to repetition when writing rhyming picture books. Those groupings of words–at the beginning, middle, end, or all through the story–definitely add to the fun of reading and listening. Thanks for your post, Eric!
Thank you, Anne!
Great summary of the uses of repetition, Eric. Wise words to remember when rhyming! 🙂
Thanks much!
Wonderful post about repetition, Eric. I repeat: wonderful post about repetition, Eric. Thank you!
Thank you, thank you!
Great post on repetition, Eric. Re
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Great post on repetition, Eric.
I love repetition and use it often. Kids love getting to be a part of the read aloud.
Sublime, sublime, I love to rhyme. This is a great reminder. I have one manuscript that repeats a refrain. Glad to know that’s a good thing for readers. Great post!
Best of luck with that manuscript, Sherri!
Eric, I appreciate your post. I’ve debated removing the repetition in one of my PBs. But your advice helped, especially – “While a story’s vocabulary, setting, and characters might be new and confusing, repetition provides the child with something reassuring.”
Glad to hear it may have been helpful.
Thanks Eric! The repetition examples you highlighted are so musical. Very inspiring.
Thanks, Mary!
As a preschool teacher, I see firsthand how children respond to repetition. They love it and are so proud of themselves when they know exactly where it falls on the page. Great post Eric. Thank you!
Thank you for your work with those preschoolers, Kathy!
Thanks for this great reminder, Eric! I can’t wait to read some of your books! I’m reserving them now!
Thanks for that! I hope they’re enjoyed
This is a great lesson to remember, and a lesson that I need to work on. Thank you for the great post!
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Yes! Yes! Yes!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
😄😄😄
Hi Erik, I had never thought about why repetition works so well in a children’s book. Your explanation makes total sense. It makes you feel at home, you know your routine, you’re safe. Well, off to place your books on hold. Thanks!
Thanks, Joana. Enjoy!
HI Erik, All your books look so fun! Thanks for the reminder about repetition. Repetition is powerful in that it adds to the familiarity and coziness of a book. Congrats to your success!
Thanks so much!
Well, thank you so very much!
Eric, you spoke like someone who gets “inside” books and really gains insight into what works and why. Great post, and the books are fun examples of variations on repetition.
Well, thank you for such kind words, Sherry!
I agree that repetition adds a lot to a story. While I have found it difficult to use repetition effectively, your post inspires me to really focus on this technique. Great post. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
Best to you in your writing, Deborah!
Great perspective on repetition! It’s making me totally rethink one of my stories I’m working on!
Wonderful!
Great repetition review, a welcome sound revolution for children and adults.
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Great post on repetition. My own children’s favorites were the stories containing rhyme and repetition.
Mine too, Judy.
Thank you once
Thank you twice
Thank you, thank you,
Thank you thrice
(Guess that’s really five.)
Great post, great post.
Perfect!
I had forgotten how much I LOVE rhyme and repetition until you gave these wonderful examples. This is so true, especially for preschoolers and younger readers. They LOVE taking part in stories, and that’s what we want right? Great post!
Thanks so much, Angie.
What? You have TEN books! I’d only heard of the one’s put out by Kane Miller which I bought through Usborne Books & More! I thought I had them all… now I need to go find all the others. I love Dan the Taxi Man and Too Many Tomatoes.
Hi Lisa. Thanks so much for the kind words. I LOVE being a part of the UBAM family!
If it’s worth saying, it’s worth repeating. (Somebody said that. I don’t know who. Maybe Mark Twain. Or if he didn’t, I’m sure he would have if he thought about it.) But repetition has surely worked magic for me in my book, “STAND BACK,” SAID THE ELEPHANT, “I’M GOING TO SNEEZE!” (Thank you and thank you and thank you again for the mention!) I appreciate the value of that line every time I read that book to a bunch of kids. Never fails. I only need to read the “Please don’t sneeze!” line once or twice…point…and the whole giggling gang will say it for me.
Your article was a Super-Dooper, Jim-Dandy, Really-Handy,Blog Show Stopper (part of the title of another of my wacky rhymed books, by the way.) Thumbs up to you, Eric!
Patricia, what a treat to hear from you! “Stand Back” is truly an outstanding title. Everything about it works. Wishing you the very best.
…oops…meant thumbs up, Eric for the book! Thumbs up Angie for the blog!
Thank you, Eric, for this reminder about the power of repetition. I’ve not read all your examples so I’ve got some catch up to do! Love the fun in your post 🙂
Terrific! Happy reading.
Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. I think I’ve got it. Thank you, Eric Ode!
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Thank you, Eric, for the great post repetition! I feel more confident using it now.
Groovy!
Eric,
You are quite the guy.
I think one of your books I might buy.
yOu know so much about repetition.
That I will use more repetition.
I will use more repetition.
😄
I greatly enjoyed your post, Erik! Repetition is fun! Can’t wait to check out your darling books. Thanks!
Thanks, Jill!
I never really though about how much repetition could add to a story. Thanks for sharing. I Love all the mentor tests you provided.
Thanks, Maria!
What fun books. Can’t wait to check them out.
I enjoy repetition in stories as much as the children I read to!
Thank you for this powerful post. Thank you for this meaningful message. Thank you for this inspirational insight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome, Meli!
Thanks for the post! I will check out your books!
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Repetition, repetition, repetition it is!!
Yup, yup, yup! 😄
I like, I like repetition.
There is just no competition.
If there were, then I’d be wishin’
that we had more repetition.
Ha!
Great post! I recently had a PB that wasn’t quite coming together for me. I added som repetition, and not only was it more fun to read, but it helped tie everything together. Running to get the books you mentioned. Thanks!
Wonderfulness! Best to you, Ellen!
Completely agree, Eric! And I’d add that it’s not just the kids who find comfort in repetition; as the mommy who read GREEN EGGS AND HAM a hundred times, there’s something very comforting about that book to me, too! And I would read it with a fox and in a box and here or there. I’d read that book anywhere! (I do so love GREEN EGGS AND HAM. Thank you, thank you, Eric Ode. You’re the man.) 🙂
Terrific point, Cathy. 😀
ERIC: THANK YOU for this WONDERFUL post! I especially appreciate all of the GREAT book examples showing different types of repetition–I’m going to check these all out! As to repetition bringing contentment: we all need a bit of that, don’t we? Not just the kids! THANK YOU!!!
Absolutely agreed, Natalie! Enjoy the books. Thank you for the kind words.
Love repetition, lyrics, thoughts by a character, lines in a picture book, and instructions to children. Thanks for your post.
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Thank you for this great post. I love all of the knowledge we are getting here!
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Thank you, Eric, for this great advise.
Thanks, David. Be well.
Great post on repetition. I love your idea about how it can be a comfort to a child in a new situation.
Thanks, Lynn. 🙂
I’ve been meaning to work on a repetitive piece! I think this is my cue to begin working on it for my 12×12 May manuscript! 🙂
Outstanding! Happy writing, Jennifer.
I appreciated your post very much. As a child I did find comfort in the repetition of lines in a story, and as an author I enjoy writing with repetition.
Thanks much, Wendy. Best to you and your writing.