I
adore first person present tense.
Present
tense takes me, as a reader, right in. I’m here, and here we go together, all
the way until the story’s end.
When
it comes to writing picture books for the very young, it also feels like
natural language. Toddlers use present tense even when speaking of past or
future events.
Here’s
the kicker: what to do when a picture book is about something that is no more? Think,
the past. Think, HISTORY.
Like
the Milkman, or corsets, or rotary phones.
There
are writers who can do it. I’m still struggling.
