A-Z Guide to Literary Devices

Bring Literature to Life with Literary Devices 

If your kids have ever

  • pictured a vivid world while reading . . .
  • felt a poem hum like music . . .
  • watched a character change and grow . . .

. . . they’ve already experienced literary devices in action—whether they knew it or not! 

The A–Z Guide to Literary Devices helps your family make sense of those sparks of literary magic. 

What’s Inside the A–Z Guide?

This guide is both comprehensive and kid-friendly—an engaging companion to our literature guides

You’ll find:

  • Easy-to-understand definitions for common (and some uncommon) literary devices

  • Passage examples from beloved books (many of them from our Literature Singles)

  • Try It! prompts to help your kids use each device in tiny writing bursts

Use it as a reference on the fly—or settle in and explore one device at a time. There’s no right way to use it.

A Guide You’ll Use for Years

Some literary devices will tickle your youngest readers.
Others won’t fully land until the teen years, when deeper thinking blooms.

This guide grows with your family.

Why Learn Literary Devices?

Literary devices are the tools writers use to make language come alive. 

When kids learn to spot these devices in action:

  • Reading becomes richer.
    They will have "Aha!" moments when they notice the "Easter-eggs" authors hide in plain sight.

  • Writing becomes more expressive.
    They gain strategies and confidence to build characters, shape scenes, and develop their voice.

  • Conversations get deeper and more engaging.
    They will become insiders and enter the “Great Conversation” about literature.

Track Your Literary Discoveries with the My Literary Life Log

Included inside is a delightful tool: My Literary Life Log—a place for each family member to collect their own “Aha!” moments. 

Use it to track: 

  • Quotes you love that feature a device

  • Book titles where you spotted a device

  • Surprise discoveries—like foreshadowing you totally missed the first time

  • Favorite examples you want to return to again and again

It’s part reading journal, part keepsake—a record of your child’s growing literary life.

Print a copy for everyone in the house (grown-ups too!).

See the sample pages below, and come along on this A-Z literary adventure! 



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