Onomatopoeia and such

*Ahhhh pooooof* Phew. There we go. Had to blow the dust off the keyboard! That’s better! Schwack, schwaaack. Thwip. (a few cobwebs). It’s been a while – I apologize. SMOOCH! (that better?)

I’ve been told I tend to use a lot of sound words in my writing – you know – the whole onomatopoeia thing. It’s true. I LOVE sound words. And I DO use them often when I write. Especially in my picture books, but I use sound words in my middle grade books as well. Why?

Because sound words are FUN! They break up text and provide white space/pacing/rhythm. Plus, they not only invite the reader into the text — they grab the reader by the ear and pull them along! Ouch! BANG! SNAP! Arrrrooooooo! How could a read resist such lovely words? And better yet — how could a CHILD not turn around and LOOK at an adult reading such silly, fun words?

I suppose that’s where it all started. In my ‘other life’ I’m an early literacy storyteller. I started out when I was a teen – going to summer park programs and reading stories to hot, sweaty, tired, often sugared-up kids. When you’re not much older than your audience, I think you tend to ham it up a bit (at least, I did) in order to keep their attention on the story and not on a passing butterfly. The Big Bad Wolf HUFFED and PUFFED and BAM-CRASH! knocked those little houses down. Those pigs cried WEEEE WEEE WEEE! And don’t even get me started on Little Red Riding Hood. Sound words did the trick – I would add them in if the author had somehow missed an opportunity CREAK! SQUEAK! Swish swish. So, when I started writing my own picture books – of course I added the sound words into the text. (Why should the poor reader have to work so hard to come up w/ the appropriate sounds at the appropriate time?). Plus, as the writer – if you add in sound words – you are giving your illustrator room to play. In my first book, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!, David Walker used my sound words to enhance the illustration. Someone recently asked if I had written those words too – or if the illustrator had just done that … OF COURSE I WROTE THE WORDS! GAK! (but I answered politely – honestly, people – I’m the author – if I let the illustrator do everything, what would be left? GRIN).

I also used a lot animal sounds in BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! (there are even more in my book IF YOU WERE A DOG due out in fall 2014). Again, not only does the sound break up the text and invite the reader in — but it is an early literacy tool as well (we library types like to call this phonological awareness). Kids learn language by playing with it – manipulating it – splicing and dicing it into individual sounds – and by hearing the sounds slowed down a bit. What’s better than Arrrrooooo! or Hisssss! or YEOWL! or Squawk! or Ribbet ribbet! Kids love to make animal sounds – and they are easy to break up into syllables – if you’re so inclined. And kids are. So are teachers. So, I ask you, brave writers, why not add a few sounds in? You’ll love it. I promise. Even a ‘quiet’ picture book can benefit from a few soft sounds…. shhhhhh…. pat pat pat…. drip drip drip …. whoosh … hush hush …

My next book BIG RIG is packed with sound words too … what can I tell you — I just love me the onomatopoeia (and I think Frankie’s illustrator, Ned Young, does too!)Urrrrnnntt! Urrrrnnntt! Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down!

BIG RIG will hit the road on Feb. 4, 2014.