Crinkle, Crackle, Crack: It's Spring!
My new book, which officially launches on April 1st, celebrates the most hopeful season. Here are a couple of questions early readers have asked me about it:Q: What inspired you to write this title?A: Spring has my heart! Winter has its own blessings, but the very end of it, just before spring comes, can only be endured. Spring reminds us all that our world survives, year after year after year.Q: Given that April is National Poetry Month, what tools of poetry can educators discuss when using this picture book in the classroom?A: Mostly I’m working with sound in this story, not just the sounds the characters hear that leads them to the surprise, but the sound of the words themselves. I use words to represent the sounds the characters are hearing like crinkle, crackle, crack. I use word repetition. “It is time. It is time.” And I use rhyme. My rhymes are occasional and surprising. I do this so the rhymes don’t limit what I can say and so they aren’t predictable. “And oh . . . of course,/the bear/The one standing there/in the middle of your yard.”