RHYMING WITHIN PROSE

When I started writing for children about 3 years ago, most of my initial efforts were in rhyme. It didn't take too long to realize that I just don't have the talent for it and have since stuck to prose. However, sometimes a passage or line will come to me in rhyme and I just can't help but include it.

With my current PB, I have an exchange that is in rhyme, but the lines do not scan. I never bothered to count syllables and stresses or anything. I simply wrote it the way I heard it.

Here's my question: Does it matter that the lines do not scan if the whole piece is not rhyme?

I have included my passage below. It's an exchange between two birders and a bird. Does it work?

Peep peep peep. Peep peep peep.
"Why yes, of course, peeping sounds."
"No, not peeps. Verbs and nouns."

Toot toot toot. Toot toot toot.
"Oh, now we see. A tooting bird."
"Not just toots. He said some words."

Tweek tweek tweek. Tweek tweek tweek.
"Now that makes sense. A bird that tweeks."
"No, no, no. That bird can speak."

Hey, thanks for responding.

Toothpaste: Not harsh at all. I once did a radio book interview, during which some of the callers praised my work while others tore me to absolute shreds. Same thing happened at a workshop of one of my plays. Most of the audience accepted it as light humor, although one woman almost came onto the stage to voice her outrage at what I had written. Hey, that's part of releasing your words to the public.

Now, back to the topic. I clearly understand about the second and third stanzas, my trying to rhyme a singular with a plural. They aren't true rhymes. And you really did a great rewrite on them. But how can "sounds" not rhyme with "nouns" simply going by the base words? True, "sound" and "noun" do not rhyme, as the "d" is very strong, but when I read "sounds" aloud, the "s" makes the "d" silent. No matter how many times I read the words aloud, I always hear them as sounding exactly alike. Is rhyme not based on the actual sound of the words rather than their spelling?

Scarletpeaches: You're right. A lot of rhyme does depend on the regional pronunciation of a word. I remember once reading that some words should be avoided in writing rhyme, as their pronunciation is different throughout the country. One word I recall being used as an example was "orange." The dictionary has it listed as a two-syllable word, and apparently people in some parts of the country do indeed pronounce it with two syllables. But growing up in the south, I've always heard it as monosyllabic.

Funny thing. I was reading a rhyming PB at B&N the other day, and there was actually an asterisk by one of the end-rhyme words with a pronunciation footnote. First time I've ever seen that, and I read a lot of picture books.