MOWMT: Amuse Your Audience with Brittany Pomales

March 27, 2025

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Ways to Amuse Your Audience With Alliteration

Hello, March on Mentor Text readers!

By now, you know that reading picture books—especially those published in the past few years—is the best and most cost effective way to learn to write them. 

So, when I found myself wondering how much alliteration was too much, there was only one way to find out. That’s right. Mentor texts. 

I browsed the shelves of my local library and read books that used alliteration sparingly, books told entirely in alliteration, and everything in between. 

Here are five books that I found during my do-it-yourself alliteration masterclass:

1. T. Rexes Can’t Tie Their Shoes written by Anna Lazowski & illustrated by Steph Laberis

T. Rexes Can’t Tie Their Shoes is an alphabet book that uses alliteration to connect the animals with an action that they can’t do. 

2. Betty’s Burgled Bakery: An Alliteration Adventure by Travis Nichols

 Betty’s Burgled Bakery: An Alliteration Adventure is a graphic novel-esque picture book that tells its narrative through alliterative dialogue that runs through the alphabet. 

3. Once Upon An Alphabet

Once Upon An Alphabet uses each letter of the alphabet to tell a short story. 

4. SEASIDE STROLL written by Charles Trevino & illustrated by Maribel Lechuga

Seaside Stroll is a sparse-text lyrical picture book with words that all start with the letter S, also known as a tautogram. 

5. FOUR FAMISHED FOXES AND FOSDYKE Written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole

Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke heavily uses words that begin with the letter F throughout the entire book. 

Each of these books uses alliteration differently and to varying degrees. But the common thing between them is the intentionality of the alliteration. With that revelation, I stopped worrying about using too much alliteration and got intentional. It turns out, the question was not ‘How much is too much,’ but ‘How does it all sound together.’ 

My debut picture book, IT STARTED WITH A P (Flamingo Books PRH April 8, 2025), heavily uses words that begin with the letter P, similar to Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke. But it didn’t have nearly as many P words when I started. Even after it sold to Flamingo Books, my editor Claire asked if I could add more. 

Really?! 

I was all too happy to oblige! 

So, I created a dummy—of just text— to see how the alliteration was working in the sentences, pages, and spreads. I wanted it to feel similar to a tongue twister but without actually tieing any tongues. You’ll have to let me know how I did. 

Happy Reading!

[Editor Note/Prize: Congratulations to Brittany who just returned from Maternity Leave to The Little Press! Because Brittany is busy with the new baby, I am happy to commandeer her prize and will be giving away one Submission Pass to me (Lynne Marie) at the Little Press! Please share this post and comment with the Little Press book that most intrigues you in the comment section. I will choose one winner!

Brittany Pomales wrote It Started With A P. Unless you didn’t find it funny; in that case, someone else wrote it. When she isn’t writing books, Brittany is often playing with, singing to, and or reading to her daughter along with her husband and dog in their Arizona home. She has celebrated over thirty birthdays. Thankfully, none have resulted in a celebration crisis–yet!

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