Picture Books That Pop: Building Emergent Literacy through Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Rhyme, and Meter

Grounded in the germinal work in the field of emergent literacy done by Marie Clay, this article begins by contextualizing research on emergent literacy and examines how poetic picture books assist young children with developing literacy and language acquisition skills. It includes textual analysis of the poetic techniques of alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme and meter in Sandra Boynton’s Moo Baa La La La and Barnyard Dance, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham; Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama Mad at Mama.