Rhythm in Picture Books

What is it? How do you get it?

MAC: Hi Jon.

JON: Hi Mac.

MAC: OK, so today we have a question from Iris.

I have questions regarding rhythm in picture books. I am working towards my own career in writing and illustrating picture books and often hear how important it is to have a good rhythm in your story. How does one cultivate a good sense of rhythm in picture books? Does it simply come from reading a lot of picture books out loud? Or are there particular writing methods one can study; should one study poetry, for example? How do you know when to slow the story down and when to speed it up? Are there any helpful tips to follow with this?

So I can think of at least three kinds of rhythm that are important in picture books: