Alliteration Anyone? Picture Books to Teach Figurative Language

Bookmark and Share

Learning Librarian’s the name, figurative language is my game!  I had a request for books from a teacher who wanted to provide examples of alliteration to her students.  Here’s what I recommended:

Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre
This is seasonally appropriate as I’m typing this, and it’s gorgeous in terms of both words and photos.  Sayre is a perennial favorite with me, and this book did not disappoint.

Get the backstory and the page notes for each spread in the book from the author.

 

Wonderfall by Michael Hall
Another seasonal choice, but different in tone from Full of Fall.  The brightly colored illustrations celebrate the joy of cooler weather, colorful leaves, and

Enjoy the book trailer:

 

Some Smug Slug written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole
In this story, the slug slowly starts up the steep surface of the slope, all the while ignoring the please of the other animals to stop.  Sadly, she doesn’t heed the warning, and is in for a shock at the top!  The phrase “oldie but goodie” applies to all of PDE’s alliteration books, which also include Dinorella, Clara Caterpillar, and Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke.

Listen to Pamela Duncan Edwards talk about her alliteration books:

 

Rosie Raccoon’s Rock and Roll Raft written by Barbara deRubertis and illustrated by R. W. Alley
Rosie is determined to win the Rocky River Raft Race, by building the best raft (STEM connection!) and piloting it down the river and through the rapids to the finish line.  In addition to the alliteration (“Rosie rocked around the rocks and rolled through the rest of the rapids.”) the story features a heavy dose of onomatopoeia (“Rattle! Bang! Rumble! Crash! Rosie was raising a ruckus in her backyard.”).  There are some raccoon facts and follow-up activities at the end of the book.  This is one in a whole series of books from A-Z that celebrate alliteration.

Lerner Books offers a printable activity guide for the book (and for the others in the series).

 

Betty’s Burgled Bakery by Travis Nichols
Graphic novel aficionados will enjoy this detective story told in comic book format, and teachers will appreciate the notes at the end explaining alliteration and providing additional facts about hungry animals.  Nichols cleverly features one letter of the alphabet on each page, from A (“All right Antoine, always anticipate an alarm!” to Z (“We zipped this zany, zigzagging zinger with zeal!”).  Even the dedication is alliterative — now that’s dedication!  (groan!)

Enjoy this book launch celebration video created by the author:

 

If You Were Alliteration written by Trisha Speed Shaskan and illustrated by Sara Gray
And finally, this non-fiction title explaining alliteration and how it’s used is an enjoyable read aloud choice.  The examples given include simple sentences, metaphor and simile, tongue-twisters, and poems.  At the end of the book there’s also a writing prompt, a glossary, an index, and a bibliography,  This is part of a series on figurative language, parts of speech, and math concepts.

This book is included in the Fact Hound website, which offers recommended titles and websites for Capstone books.

Enjoy a preview of the book:

What are your favorite alliteration books?  Please share in the comments!

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *