Why use figurative language? Similes and metaphors create word pictures for the child/student, and the story is more likely to engage the reader. A simile is a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two things using “like” or “as”. And, a metaphor makes an implied comparison between two things that does NOT use like or as. When I taught elementary school, I would teach an excellent children’s picture book to introduce similes called Quick as a Cricket…..
