Tips:


                                                          -- From Picture Books on the Porch Workshop

Titles:

Vivid Verbs and Colorful Words:  The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill;
Power and Glory by Emily London (look at parallelism between written word and
illustrations).

Structure & Parallelism:  Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell; How
Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen; Owen by Kevin Henkes;
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss.

Play on Words:  The Three Silly Billies by Margie Palatini.

Look at Things in a Different Way:  Sakes Alive a Cattle Drive by Karma
Wilson; What Do You Do with a Tail Like This by Steve Jenkins and Robin
Page.

Old Title/New Twist:  Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philemon Sturges.

Repetitive Lines:  Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems; Bear Snores On by Karma
Wilson; Look Both Ways:  A Cautionary Tale by Diane Z. Shore and Jessica
Alexander.

Show Don't Tell:  Owen by Kevin Henkes; Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by
Kevin Henkes.

Edgy/Scary:  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak; The Three
Billy Goats Gruff by Paula Galdone.

Good First Pages Introduce Main Character, Problem/Conflict and Sense of
Place:  The Monster Who Ate My Peas by Danny Schnitzlein.

Tools:

"Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how
they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the
master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not,
throw it out of the window."

                                                                                      -- William Faulkner
Tips, Titles & Tools