How to Write a Children's Picture Book Volume III: Figures of Speech: Learning from Fish is Fish, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Owen, Caps for Sale, Where the Wild Things Are, and Other Favorite Stories [Paperback]

Eve Heidi Bine-Stock (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 097489334X | ISBN-13: 978-0974893341 | Publication Date: October 28, 2006

Many of us think of children's picture books as being written mostly with simple declarative sentences. What an eye-opener to learn that they are actually filled with delightful figures of speech. I am not talking here about the common figures of speech we learn about in grade school: simile, onomatopoeia, alliteration, hyperbole and personification. I am talking about more subtle and sophisticated figures of speech which we may not even recognize as figures at all (until they are pointed out to us), but their use gives stories a charm and freshness that stands up to repeated readings. These figures have names which are eminently forgettable but the figures them-selves make the stories in which they appear eminently memorable. In this volume, I point out many figures which appear in masterworks of children's picture storybooks, so that they may be appreciated and savored, and their patterns emu-lated in your own work.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eve Heidi Bine-Stock is the author of Volumes I, II and III of this series, How to Write a Children's Picture Book, and has written pseudonymously numerous books for children. Ms. Bine-Stock is also the Publisher of E&E Publishing which publishes children's picture books and non-fiction books for adults.

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: E & E Publishing (October 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097489334X
• ISBN-13: 978-0974893341
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Add This to Your Reference Library!, November 14, 2006

By 

Nancy I. Sanders (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Write a Children's Picture Book Volume III: Figures of Speech: Learning from Fish is Fish, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Owen, Caps for Sale, Where the Wild Things Are, and Other Favorite Stories (Paperback)

I love this series of books! I've been writing children's books for years and have read many how-to books on the topic. Bine-Stock provides what most other books only vaguely hint at--clear instructions on how to write a picture book. Using classic picture books as examples, Volume III guides authors through the process of developing the language they use in their manuscripts to create instant classics that both kids and adults will love!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Figures of Speech used in Classics, April 23, 2011

By 

Just Learning - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Write a Children's Picture Book Volume III: Figures of Speech: Learning from Fish is Fish, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Owen, Caps for Sale, Where the Wild Things Are, and Other Favorite Stories (Paperback)

This series of books would more aptly be titled, "How Children's Picture Books are Written". They do not teach you how to write a children's book no matter how many reviewers state that they do. They deconstruct the classics. This book deconstructs the classics in terms of what figures of speech were used. It points out and lightly, but not fully, explains 31 different types of speech referencing how they were used in that case. For instance on page 24 it is explaining a figure of speech called, anadiplosis, by explaining from an excerpt, "The end of the first sentence is repeated at the beginning of the following sentence fragment." Then it goes on from there in a similar fashion. This makes me wonder, does the following sentence always have to be a fragment? This is what I mean about only explaining it per case and not really giving a full definition of the term discussed. The author simply takes you through the classics and at times will explain a term in a slightly different way the next time it comes up so you are not getting straightforward definitions, but rather in context to the examples but you do get a sense for the technique. These books are easy light reading, and introduce you to the variety of methods or techniques available to the author while studying the classics but they do not teach you explicitly how to write. I did gain an ability to appreciate the craft of writing, and the knowledge that there is more to writing than just putting down a description of events and that the techniques are worth looking into further and trying out. The author makes the books very simple.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to Practice From, November 24, 2011

By 

Ohioan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How to Write a Children's Picture Book Volume III: Figures of Speech: Learning from Fish is Fish, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Owen, Caps for Sale, Where the Wild Things Are, and Other Favorite Stories (Paperback)

I definitely recommend all three volumes of Bine-Stock's "How to Write a Children's Picture Book," and I am glad to see that the price has come down approximately 40%. These were way, way overpriced for such tiny books: paper and ink cannot possibly cost so much as to justify the price of these books before the decrease. Now that this book is approximately $13, I can recommend without guilt that, if you're interested in writing children's books, you read all three volumes in this series.

When this, the third volume, arrived at my doorstep, I was at first shocked: such a small book! But then, as I began reading about the different figures of speech, I realized that the author has said what there is to say about each figure of speech, given examples of it, and encouraged its use. The book is perfect for what it is. In fact, I recommend it for writers of adult literature, too.