Thursday, March 22, 2018

Reading For Research Month, Day 15

Yesterday's Reading For Research Month post by Dow Phumirok is about how themes and formats are often repeated in picture books. Her point is that writers can bring something unique to a traditional storyline.

Sad to say, I found/read only one of yesterday's books. And it was one I'd read before.

Yesterday's Picture Book


I'd read Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio with illustrations by Christian Robinson back in 2014. Loved it then, loved it now. Yes, it is a cuckoo in the nest story, but with dogs. And the cuckoos are adorable and much loved. Thematically we're talking about feelings being more important than appearances.

Can I use a repeated theme/format/storyline in my picture book manuscript? You know, I'm wondering about this. For instance, is my theme too unique? ("Can we control our lives?" My favorite theme to write about.) And maybe a variation on a recognizable story is what makes some of these picture books work.  

ReFoReMo Books Read To Date: 36

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