Aaaaand now for the newest song by morebooksmama co-author, LUKE!  WOOOOO! YEAH!  ROCK OUT, LUKE!

Sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

Mama cannot sing a lick.

She sounds like a duck that’s sick.

Dada’s voice is even worse.

He can’t sing a single verse.

I still like it when they try.

‘Cause singing makes words dance and fly.

Thank you, thank you very much!

I love music, and I know that I’m not alone.  Most kids love singing songs and dancing to music.  My Mama knows this, too, so one of the things that she enjoys doing is using music to make books more interesting.  She goes about integrating music in a few different ways:

1) She uses familiar songs to sing books that aren’t musical: My favorite example of this one is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle.  We sing the words to Twinkle, Twinkle.  Setting the words to music helps to emphasize their rhythmic nature and makes them more appealing.

2) She finds books that have songs built into the text: Many of my favorite books have music written into the stories.  Mama enjoys making up her own tunes, but there are also recordings of many of the books online.  Sometimes music plays a big role, as in Perfect Piggies!by Sandra Boynton, where the book is a song, and Goodnight Songs: Illustrated by Twelve Award-Winning Picture Book Artists by Margaret Wise Brown, which is a compilation of lullabies.  Other times music complements the words, as in Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin and Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas.  Still other times, as in Red Ted and the Lost Things by Michael Rosen and Joel Stewart and Belly Button Book (Boynton on Board)by Sandra Boynton, music plays a minor role but helps me hook into the book.

3) She makes up tunes for books that don’t have any music in them: These books are always rhythmic to begin with, and then inspiration hits Mama and she just starts making up melodies.  Books that I might otherwise lose interest in become more engaging and I’m hooked.  My two favorite examples of this type are The Man from the Land of Fandango by Margaret Mahy and Polly Dunbar and Where, Oh Where Is Huggle Buggle Bear? (Picture Books Large) by Katherine Sully and Janet Samuel.

My parents truly cannot sing, so do not feel shy about belting out a melody–your kids will love the books you read all the more!

Happy reading!

–Luke, blog co-author (age 3.5)

 

Books suitable for babies: Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, Perfect Piggies!, Goodnight Songs

Books suitable for toddlers: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Belly Button Book, Where, Oh Where is Huggle Buggle Bear?

Books suitable for preschoolers: Red Ted and the Lost Things, Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy, The Man from the Land of Fandango