Were there any particular mentor texts that inspired you in the creation of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT? (Or another one of your upcoming published books?)
Definitely! I knew I wanted to do a rewrite of a cumulative tale. I had many ideas recorded in my PiBoIdMo lists from 2011 and 2012. When I settled on a rewrite of THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY, I searched the Internet for every possible rewrite. Luckily, my library had a slew of them. I read over 25 versions, which ranged from rollicking and hilarious to yawn-inducing. My favorites had that something extra.
I really liked the refrain, "Yippee-o-Ki-Yee!" in THERE WAS AN OLD COYOTE WHO SWALLOWED A FLEA by Jennifer Ward. I found another funny refrain in THERE WAS AN OLD MONSTER! by Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley, "Scritchy-scratch, scritch, scritchy-scratch, scritchy-scratch, scritch, scritchy-scratch." And you can't listen to this without getting excited about the rhythm of this book.
Stein's book was a great mentor text for weaving stories within a story. I also admired the wordplay and pacing in Leigh Hodgkinson's GOLDILOCKS AND JUST ONE BEAR. I studied her book because in my mind, it was "just right." :-)
Thank you for being our guest today, Penny!
Thank you so much for having me, Carrie.
Penny Parker Klostermann is the author of There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight. She loves all kinds of books, but especially loves very silly picture books that make her laugh. She has been known to hug her favorite picture books and seriously hopes that someday her books will gain huggable status too. Penny lives in Abilene, TX. Find out more about Penny on her website: www.pennyklostermann.com. You can follow her BLOG TOUR for I KNOW AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT at this link. |