by Audrey Wood

You could say that the idea for our book, Quick As a Cricket, was handed down to me by my great-grandmother.

My great-grandmother had quite a lot of children, and like the old woman in the shoe, she didn’t know what to do! She managed a large farm while raising her children by herself, and she had little time to spare. She decided that the best way to offer her children instruction or advice, was the quick and direct method.

When she saw a problem, or she needed to teach a lesson, great grandmother Thompson used similes to get her point across pronto!

A simile is “a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.”

Audrey’s
Tame Poodle

For instance, if one of great grand mother’s sons complained about too much work, she might say, You are as lazy as a lizard. You better get busy as a bee. Or if one of her daughters had just finished making herself a new dress to wear to the Barn Dance, and tried it on to showoff, Grandmother might say, You are as pretty as a picture.

Audrey’s
Weak Kitten

My mother continued this family tradition with her three girls, and whenever she used her similes to instruct or correct us, they were so intriguing I kept a list of them.

Most of the similes in Quick as a Cricket are very old, handed down from my great grandmother, to my grand mother, to my mother, to me, and now to you.

However, not every simile in Quick as a Cricket is old. I had to make up a few new ones myself for the rhymes. It was fun! Can you guess which ones I made up?

Audrey’s List of Original Similes:

Audrey’s
Sad Basset

“I am as sad as a basset.” I don’t think there is a simile for sad, so I had to create one. Bassets look very sad, but they are actually very peaceful and happy dogs.

I am as weak as a kitten.

I am as loud as a lion.

I am as tame as a poodle.

Audrey’s
Loud Lion

Why don’t you make up some similes? It’s easy, and like the ones I made up, they don’t have to be absolutely accurate, just colorful and interesting. Everyone loves animals, especially me.

Who knows, your simile might be handed down to many generations in your family!