Instructor Stories: Tim McCanna
Introduction
Tim McCanna, our “Storytelling in Rhyme” instructor, just made an awesome YouTube video on school visits for our Storyteller Academy channel. If you’re interested in getting paid to promote yourself or your books, now or in the future, this video is for you! Learn how to book, plan, and present for schools.
Tim has a background in musical theater and song writing. In fact, for you those of you who are familiar with Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 Challenge, Tim wrote the official jingle.
As a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), he also served as Assistant Regional Adviser for the San Francisco/South chapter for five years.
Caryn Wiseman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency represents Tim’s work.
Tim’s Picture Books
Tim debuted as a picture book author with Teeny Tiny Trucks in 2013. He’s also the author of the following picture books: Bitty Bot, Watersong, So Many Sounds, Barnyard Boogie!, Jack B Ninja, Boing! A Very Noisy ABC, Dinosong, In a Garden, and Bitty Bot’s Big Beach Getaway, which was an ALA/LITA 2019 Golden Duck Notable Picture Book.
Tim McCanna’s Storytelling in Rhyme Mini-Class
Tim went out of his way to make sure he covered different material in “Storytelling in Rhyme” than Diana Murray covered in her “Writing Natural Rhyme That Sells” mini-class.
It’s impossible to cram everything you need to know about writing rhyming picture books into one mini-class. While the two classes are complementary and bring up some of the same pitfalls, we believe that you’ll have the best experience if you use both to come up with your own process.
Where Diana’s class focuses mainly on meter and rhyme schemes, Tim’s focuses more on how to tell your story and word choice. You’re going to learn more about utilizing keywords and tools, like a rhyming dictionary or a thesaurus.
Tim created three checklists for you to use at different stages, and we’re excited to see how they improve the way you write stories!
Writing in rhyme can be a great way to connect with your audience. When it’s done right, the combination of rhythm and rhyme will stay with your readers, much like a favorite song.
It’s important to have a strong foundation for your story. Before Tim starts writing a rhyming picture book, he summarizes the story and asks himself some questions. We think that you’re going to find a lot of value in the assignments and checklists that he’s prepared for this intensive.
Tim shares examples from his published books to help students see the importance of strong rhymes and finding the right meter and rhyme scheme for your story. He shares the entire book layout for Bitty Bot. It’s helpful to have some idea of how many pages, lines, and words go into published rhyming picture books.
You can buy for Tim McCanna’s class HERE.
Book Giveaway Details
I’m giving away one of Tim’s books. To enter, just let me know which book you’d like to win in the comments by midnight on July 15. You don’t have to buy the class or be a student.
Please share this post on social media for extra entries, and paste the link to wherever you shared as a reply to your original comment. You can have an extra entry if you share something you learned from Tim’s video on school visits.
Thank you for reading!
Blog Contributors
Myrna Foster writes and edits content for Storyteller Academy and the WriteRiders Newsletter for SCBWI Nevada. She has spent a lot of time teaching and coaching children, including five years as a preschool teacher. She’s also worked as a journalist, and Highlights High Five has published six of her poems.
Arree Chung is an author/illustrator and the founder of Storyteller Academy. Arree’s Ninja! series has received starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal. Kirkus also gave a starred review to Mixed, which recently won the FCGB award.
Today Arree lives a creative life, making stories for children. Arree spends most of his time making picture books, writing middle grade novels, and sharing his love for art, design, and storytelling with kids and dreamers everywhere.