MOWMT March 6: Cumulative Stories with Sue Heavenrich
Cumulative Stories: The House that Jack Built and More
By Sue Heavenrich
My newest picture book begins with the line: This is the seed that Molly sowed. It’s very close to the original line I scribbled in my notebook back in 2014, a line that became an earworm that bugged me until I finally wrote down how a tiny seed sprouted. And grew. And blossomed and
ripened into a fat orange pumpkin that eventually became a pie. There was a familiar and comfortable rhythm to that line that took me back to childhood and felt as cozy as a well-worn
slipper.
Which is why I tried very, very hard NOT to write my book using the House that Jack Built
structure. But, as writers everywhere know, each book has its own idea of how it will come into this world. The Pie that Molly Grew let me know in no uncertain terms it would have that
rhythm and that rhyme and an ever-growing chorus of repetitious lines that could, potentially,
cause readers to go blue in the face from lack of oxygen while reading it aloud to their children.
There’s a reason kids (and adults) like cumulative tales. Along with rhythm, they have
predictability. The addition of things from one page to the next provides repetition. The
combination of predictability, anticipation, and remembering the list of all those things helps
kids feel smart! Sometimes, though, that repetition feels a bit… too repetitious. After the first
few spreads I decided to break the pattern by changing words, shortening phrases and, in some cases, eliminating entire sentences.
Five Cumulative Story Structures
The House that Jack Built. You’ll find a lot of books borrowing this structure, such as Denise Fleming’s This Is the Nest That Robin Built. At first glance, Ginny Neil’s new book, The Glorious Forest that Fire Built feels like it does, too. In rhyming text she shows the process of forest succession: seeds fall, fungi sprout, flowers bloom, brambles and berries take over bare ground, and animals move in. While inspired by the structure, Ginny gives it a facelift; she prunes the repetition, tweaks the meter, and tells the story in first person.
We're Going on a Bear Hunt. I remember this from summer camp, though it’s been printed as a book, too. You hike through tall grass (swish, swish) and the muckety marsh (squish, squish) and across a stream (splish, splash)… only to retrace your steps backwards and in order as you run away from the bear. Peggy Archer uses this sort of adventure in her book, A Hippy Hoppy Toad.
It begins innocuously enough: “In the middle of a puddle in the middle of a road…” but that
teeny tiny toad has a precarious perch on a not-so-stable twig. He’s flung from one spot to the next, eventually landing on a runner’s shoe and retracing his journey back down the road.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. A sing-along favorite that Penny Parker Klosterman borrowed for her story There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight. After the knight, the dragon swallowed a steed, a squire, and a cook in short order. No one knows why, but we can all agree, “It’s not polite!” Other books using this structure include There Was A Coyote Who Swallowed A Flea, by Jennifer Ward and There Was an Old Monster! by Rebecca Emberley et al.
One plus one more plus … I remember reading a story waaay back in second grade, about a farmer who went out to harvest a turnip. But he couldn’t pull it out so he asked his wife to help, and their children, the cat, the dog… you get the idea. Jan Brett retold the story (with her
wonderful art) and more recently, Tziporah Cohen in her book, City Beet with an urban cast of characters. Here We Come, by Janna Matthies is another example.
How To. A process in which each step builds on a preceding step is perfect for a cumulative story. Think of the scientific process: first you ask a question, then make observations, then form a hypothesis, and then design an experiment to test it. Yawn… but what if you have a dog who destroys your science fair project? That’s how Betsy Ellor spices up the scientific method in My Dog is NOT a Scientist. To see how to turn a recipe into a cumulative story, check out Holy Squawkamole!: Little Red Hen Makes Guacamole, by Susan Wood
WRITING CHALLENGE FROM RYS: Choose one of these five fun structures and play around with some ideas to bring it to life. Then write a picture book draft of YOUR cumulative tale!
The Prize: A signed copy of The Pie that Molly Grew PLUS their choice of a picture book manuscript critique or a 20-minute video/phone chat with Sue about a project they’re working on (must happen by the end of September this year.)
BIO: Sue Heavenrich is a curious naturalist and is particularly amazed by the diversity of insects that visit her garden. She has followed ants in the desert, tagged bumble bees in the Rockies, taught science to high-schoolers, and filed hundreds of articles as an environmental and community journalist. A few years ago, Sue traded in her reporter’s notebooks for composition books and began writing for children. When not writing, she counts pollinators as a community science volunteer. The world outside her back door inspires her to ask questions and look closer. Sue’s books include 13 Ways to Eat a Fly (illustrated by David Clark), The Pie that Molly Grew (illustrated by Chamisa Kellogg), and Funky Fungi: 30 Activities for Exploring Molds,Mushrooms, Lichens, and More, co-authored with Alisha Gabriel and winner of the 2023 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
Visit Sue Here:
website: https://www.sueheavenrich.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SueHeavenrichWriter
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