Moooove Into Your Rhyming Groove

by Kirsti Call and Corey Rosen Schwartz

It’s rare to find a rhyming picture book where  the words flow so seamlessly that you forget to focus on reading it “correctly” but instead get mesmerized by the savory sounds. Books like these are a treasure for the tongue! 

Our motto is, if it’s fun to write, it’s fun to read.  We had lots of fun writing Mootilda’s Bad Mood, in part because of the repeating refrain: “I’m in a bad moooooood!”  In fact we liked it so much, we got matching mugs!

We also made ourselves laugh using the following techniques:

Internal Rhyme

We used rhymes within a line to make our stanzas shine.

Some lambs were diving in the pond.

They lunged and plunged–kerplop.

Mootilda leapt, but whack, went SMACK!

A bovine belly flop!

Alliteration

We sprinkled in similar consonant sounds to make our rhymes sparkle.

Mootilda felt moog-nificent.

She’d really changed her tune.

“My melan-cow-ly mood has left.

I’m now over the MOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

Wordplay

We created moo-gnificent puns to make our story more fun.

“Our stuff was pecked. Our projects wrecked. 

We’re feeling bleak and blue.”

“Oh my, what a cow-incidence! 

You’re in a bad mood, too?”

So when you’re in a bad moooood, give these techniques a try, and hopefully you’ll turn your mooooood around!

Corey Rosen Schwartz is the author of The Three Ninja Pigs and several other rhyming picture books. She lives in Warren, NJ where she has spent many years eating ice cream and visiting farms with her two moognificent children.  Corey is often is a bad moooood. 

Kirsti Call is the author of several farm related picture books. She lives in Andover, MA where she makes moosic with her husband and five children. Kirsti is often in a good moooood!