WRITING THAT SINGS: USING LYRICAL TOOLS IN NONFICTION

by Donna B. McKinney

When I began writing for children, I naturally gravitated toward nonfiction topics. I had been a science writer for adult audiences in my earlier writing life. So the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subjects were a natural fit as I began to think about writing for children. I also enjoy reading poetry and dabbling in poetry writing. I soon realized that bringing my love for poetry into my nonfiction kids picture books strengthened my writing. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “lyrical” as “having an artistically beautiful or expressive quality suggestive of song.” Lyrical tools help a writer do more than just tell the story. While rhyming is one very obvious poetic tool picture book writers can employ, there are other lyrical devices writers can use to bring poetry into their prose and help their writing “sing.”

 

Alliteration

With alliteration, writers use the same letter or sound at the beginning of neighboring words. Alliteration helps writing flow more smoothly and gives it a certain rhythm. It draws attention to certain names and phrases writers want to highlight. 

In Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends, the poem “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” is a great example of alliteration. Here are some of the memorable phrases in the poem: “Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,” or “Crusts of black burned buttered toast” or “Moldy melons, dried-up mustard.” 

In the picture book Walter Was Worried, author Laura Vaccaro Seeger uses alliteration to help the character names stick in the reader’s mind: “Walter was worried when the sky grew dark,” “Frederick was frightened when thunder shook the trees,” and “Ursula was upset when the rain came down.”

 

Personification

With personification, writers give human characteristics to nonhuman things. Louise Greig’s The Night Box has beautiful examples of personification:

“In the kitchen the spoons stop clinking. Goodnight. They wink to the kettle.”

“Darkness tumbles into the air. It dances and whirls around the room. It goes under the bed, under the chair—everywhere!”

Personification helps to bring life and familiarity into the prose.

Onomatopoeia

With onomatopoeia writers use or create a word that suggests the sounds it describes. It allows writers to bring sound into the story. So a bee “buzzes” or a cow “moos.” With onomatopoeia, writers can move beyond simply telling to the story, by helping readers to engage other senses.

In Animals Go VROOM!, author Abi Cushman brings the text to life with these noisy words:

    “Hiss! goes the car that gets a flat tire.”

    “Screeech! goes the busy bus that skids to a stop.”

    “Awooo! goes the police motorcycle that redirects traffic.”

In my picture book Tiny Tern Takes Flight, I used the word “KREE-ERRR!” to describe the sound the Arctic tern makes. I watched Arctic tern videos on the internet and created the word “KREE-ERRR!” to try and capture the sounds I heard on the videos.

 

Similes and Metaphors

Writers use figures of speech like similes and metaphors to compare two things.

With similes, the words “like” or “as” are used in the comparison. In metaphors, the comparison is direct, without using “like” or “as” in the sentence. These figures of speech help create writing that is more visual and vivid. They help writers deepen the meaning of the words.

In Fry Bread, A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, the author uses both similes and metaphors. Notice the colors your mind’s eye “sees” in reading this passage:

    “Fry bread is color

    Golden brown, tan, or yellow

    Deep like coffee, sienna, or earth

    Light like snow and cream

    Warm like rays of sun”

In My Hair is a Book by Maisha Oso, the author uses these metaphors to deepen the meaning:

    “My hair is an atlas. It contains maps to freedom.”

    “My hair is a book about dance. It twists and swoops.”

 

Refrains

With the repetition of phrases or sentences, writers can use refrains to add read-aloud fun to their writing. In Silly Sally author Audrey Wood repeats this funny refrain: “Silly Sally went to town, walking backwards, upside down.”

In The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen, the author repeats this refrain to heighten the story’s read-aloud-ability (is that a word?):

    “I’m a pout-pout fish

    With a pout-pout face,

    So I spread the dreary-wearies

    All over the place.”

A Word of Advice: Read Poetry!

Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul is an excellent resource for picture book authors. In the chapter titled, “Making Music with Your Prose,” Paul suggests that picture book authors read a lot of poetry. “The more poets you read, no matter what genre or age they write for, the more poetic your writing will become,” she says.

 

About the Author

Donna B. McKinney is the author of two pictures books, Lights On! and Tiny Tern Takes Flight. She has also written 35 nonfiction children’s books for the educational market. Before she was writing books for kids, Donna worked at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, writing about science topics like space satellites, robots, and drones. She now lives in North Carolina with her two full-of-mischief dogs. When she’s not writing she enjoys fishing, hiking, and playing pickleball. You can find her at http://www.donnamckinneybooks.com/ .