I recently wrote about discouraging first-time children's authors from writing in rhyme. Far from disliking rhyming picture books, I'm a huge fan of them, but it's easy for neophyte writers of children's stories to get caught up in cutesy tropes and miss the real beauty and depth of language that can and should be at the centre of the stories that introduce our children to books at a young age. Sometimes the most lyrical books don't rhyme at all. One of the most gorgeous examples I've seen of this recently is "Before She Was Harriet" (2017) by wife-and-husband author-illustrator team Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome. As we reach the end of Black History Month, and our book club's month of stories of bold and courageous hearts, I can't think of anyone more deserving of the spotlight than Harriet Tubman, much written about but never too much. And this book in particular, which, working backwards from her elder years, enumerates Ms. Tubman's many names and titles and the extraordinary hats she wore throughout her awe-inspiring life, is not to be missed. From rhythmically gorgeous prose to the stunning oil paintings that help us envision this almost impossibly extraordinary life, the Ransomes have created something exquisite ... with nary a rhyme in sight. 😉 For more inspiring stories of bold hearts, follow #FindMeStories_Heart and check out our other book club members tagged on the last slide. ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ #noodlenutskidsbooks #noodlenuts_blackvoices #beforeshewasharriet #lesaclineransome #jameseransome #jamesransome #theransomes #corettascottkingaward #OwnVoices #ownvoicesbooks #blackhistorymonth #harriettubman #blackhistorymonth2020 #blackhistoryeveryday #undergroundrailroad #picturebookbiography #history #historybooks #iteach2nd #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th https://www.instagram.com/p/B895yeBHTdG/?igshid=1vl3h3f421y4n