An Interview with Karen Jameson, Picture Book Author

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A Llama is not an Alpaca, authors, Karen Jameson, Moon Babies, picture books, rhyming, Time to Shine, Where the Wee Ones Go, Woodland Dreams

by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

After publishing a couple of picture books, Karen Jameson retired from teaching and became a full-time author. Karen Jameson’s books include Moon Babies, illustrated by Amy Hevron (Putnam, 2019); Woodland Dreams, illustrated by Marc Boutavant (Chronicle, 2020); and Farm Lullaby, illustrated by Wednesday Kirwan. Woodland Dreams is a Keystone to Reading List Award winner and is included on Bank Street’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year List 2021.

Two more books came out last year: Where the Wee Ones Go: A Bedtime Wish for Endangered Animals, illustrated by Zosienka (Chronicle, April 2022), and Time to Shine: Celebrating the World’s Iridescent Animals, illustrated by Dave Murray (Groundwood, May 2022). Karen has books coming out in 2023 and 2024.

It’s been two years since Kite Tales interviewed her. It’s time to check in!

Interview with Poet Renée LaTulippe

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COVID-19, Lyrical Language Lab, pandemic, picture book, poetry, poetry month, Renee LaTulippe, rhyming, writer, writing

Top poet, author, and teacher Renée LaTulippe shares what it’s like working from Italy during the pandemic and her advice for children’s writers.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! I’m currently enrolled in your online ten-week Lyrical Language Lab. Your instruction (from Italy!) during the pandemic has been seamless. How has teaching this course been different?

Secrets to Writing Rhymes that Sell

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Author Tips, Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, picture books, rhyming, tips, writing tips

By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh

Rhymes are naturally easy for the brain to process. Their innate musicality makes their messages easier to absorb. They have a calming effect because rhymes set up an expectation and fulfill it each time a verse is completed. And kids love them.

So why are rhyming books so hard to sell?

Well, there are common pitfalls to rhyming. But there are secrets to salable rhyme, too!

The pitfall: Something rhymes just for the heck of it.

“That’s the way” and “What a day” rhyme, but if they don’t tell the story, then the rhyme is doing what I call “treading water.”

Ask an Editor: Rhyming Picture Book, featuring Renee LaTulippe

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picture book, poetry, Renee LaTulippe, rhyming

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog. This month, we feature a guest host, Renée M. LaTulippe, children’s poet, freelance editor, and founder/teacher of The Lyrical Language Lab. 

Dear Editor – I’ve written a rhyming picture book, but now that I’m starting to search for an agent it seems a lot of them don’t want rhyming picture books. What should I do?

 —Sam, Los Angeles

Dear Sam:

This is a question that gets a lot of airtime in kidlit writer circles, and for good reason. After all, we can all see how many rhyming picture books come into the world each year, so someone is writing and selling and publishing them, right? Seeing so many agents and publishers put up “No Rhyme Allowed” signs on their clubhouse doors is frustrating indeed.