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“Jacki Kellum writes about the importance of faith in your work, and the serendipity of pitching at #pbpitch. The Donkey's Song is *gorgeous*, and now available for pre-order”
― Frances Gilbert @GoGirlsGoBooks

“I’ve been a children’s book editor for over 25 years and one of the most common reasons I reject picture book manuscripts is that they rhyme badly. So why, for my first foray into writing a picture book myself, would I choose to write Go, Girls, Go! in rhyme??! Rhyming, we’re so often told â€� by editors, by agents, by fellow writers â€� is not encouraged. Bound to fail, hard to translate. But I love rhyming books. I love reading them, and I love publishing them. Turns out, I love writing them too." Frances Gilbert On Rhyming Picture Books in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ ”
― Frances Gilbert, Go, Girls, Go!

“The number one mistake in rhyming texts is when the rhyme overwhelms the story rather than serving the story. The monotony of a 32-page story all told in the same rhythm can wear a reader down after a few pages. As an editor, I often start these submissions thinking, “Okay, let’s see if this can be sustained . . .â€� and after a few stanzas say, “Oh please stop. I can’t do this anymore.â€� The sing-song-y-ness of “dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh, dah-dahâ€� in line after line pummels a reader with sameness. It also encourages authors to make terrible word choices: odd or forced descriptions or line endings because that last word HAS. TO. RHYME. My test: Extract a line out of your rhyming text and ask yourself if you’d write it the same way if it DIDN’T have to rhyme. If the answer is no, it’s a bad line. The rhyming has to feel effortless." Frances Gilbert On Rhyming Picture Books in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 

"The number one mistake in rhyming texts is when the rhyme overwhelms the story rather than serving the story. The monotony of a 32-page story all told in the same rhythm can wear a reader down after a few pages. As an editor, I often start these submissions thinking, “Okay, let’s see if this can be sustained . . .â€� and after a few stanzas say, “Oh please stop. I can’t do this anymore.â€� The sing-song-y-ness of “dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh, dah-dahâ€� in line after line pummels a reader with sameness. It also encourages authors to make terrible word choices: odd or forced descriptions or line endings because that last word HAS. TO. RHYME. My test: Extract a line out of your rhyming text and ask yourself if you’d write it the same way if it DIDN’T have to rhyme. If the answer is no, it’s a bad line. The rhyming has to feel effortless." Frances Gilbert On Rhyming Picture Books in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 

"The number one mistake in rhyming texts is when the rhyme overwhelms the story rather than serving the story. The monotony of a 32-page story all told in the same rhythm can wear a reader down after a few pages. As an editor, I often start these submissions thinking, “Okay, let’s see if this can be sustained . . .â€� and after a few stanzas say, “Oh please stop. I can’t do this anymore.â€� The sing-song-y-ness of “dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh, dah-dahâ€� in line after line pummels a reader with sameness. It also encourages authors to make terrible word choices: odd or forced descriptions or line endings because that last word HAS. TO. RHYME. My test: Extract a line out of your rhyming text and ask yourself if you’d write it the same way if it DIDN’T have to rhyme. If the answer is no, it’s a bad line. The rhyming has to feel effortless." Frances Gilbert On Rhyming Picture Books in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 





"The number one mistake in rhyming texts is when the rhyme overwhelms the story rather than serving the story. The monotony of a 32-page story all told in the same rhythm can wear a reader down after a few pages. As an editor, I often start these submissions thinking, “Okay, let’s see if this can be sustained . . .â€� and after a few stanzas say, “Oh please stop. I can’t do this anymore.â€� The sing-song-y-ness of “dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh, dah-dahâ€� in line after line pummels a reader with sameness. It also encourages authors to make terrible word choices: odd or forced descriptions or line endings because that last word HAS. TO. RHYME. My test: Extract a line out of your rhyming text and ask yourself if you’d write it the same way if it DIDN’T have to rhyme. If the answer is no, it’s a bad line. The rhyming has to feel effortless." Frances Gilbert On Rhyming Picture Books in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 

"The number one mistake in rhyming texts is when the rhyme overwhelms the story rather than serving the story. The monotony of a 32-page story all told in the same rhythm can wear a reader down after a few pages. As an editor, I often start these submissions thinking, “Okay, let’s see if this can be sustained . . .â€� and after a few stanzas say, “Oh please stop. I can’t do this anymore.â€� =”
― Frances Gilbert

“Effortless AND creative. Listen to the “Hamiltonâ€� soundtrack. I know it’s a high bar, but learn from how Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote an entire musical in tight, creative rhyme full of variety and rhythm changes and surprises and cleverness and word-play delights. Internal rhymes, humorous rhymes, break-outs into a different rhythm altogether. A surprise around every corner. Now imagine if all two hours and forty-five minutes of “Hamiltonâ€� had been “dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh, dah-dah.â€� That’s not a ticket you’d have paid $300 for."  Frances Gilbert On Rhyming Picture Books in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ ”
― Frances Gilbert

“What enchanted me most was your unexpected word choice throughout. Every line felt like a surprise and a perfect little package. And tying it up so neatly yet emotionally. It’s a masterpiece, Jacki." Frances Gilbert in Tweet to Jacki Kellum about her book The Donkey's Song”
― Frances Gilbert