You sing songs to a child, and you read books to a child, but have you ever sung a book to a child?
Singing books to children not only makes reading more fun and engaging, but it also serves an important early literacy purpose. Singing breaks words down into phonemes, their basic units of sound. When children are first learning to read, they sound out the phonemes as they try to pronounce a word. Singing books and breaking the words of a song up with the tune helps kids begin to think of words as made up of sound parts, which is one of the first steps to reading.
Singing books also make it easier for kids to remember each word on a page. They can then begin to associate the look of a word on the page with its sound, and before you know it, you have a reader on your hands! To help you with singing books, kind authors have been writing picture books as songs more and more. So, help a little one in your life on their way to lifelong literacy! Sing a book!
Maria Had a Little Llama/Maria Tenia Una Llamita
By: Angela N. Dominguez
Everyone knows about Mary and her little lamb. But do you know Maria?
With gorgeous, Peruvian-inspired illustrations and English and Spanish retellings, Angela Dominguez gives a fresh new twist to the classic rhyme. Maria and her mischievous little llama will steal your heart. (Publisher’s Marketing)
Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus
By: James Dean
Number-one “New York Times”-bestselling artist Dean makes Pete the Cat groovier than ever in this cool adaptation of the classic song “The Wheels on the Bus.” Fans can join Pete as he rides on the bus to school with his friends and hears all the different sounds a bus makes as it drives.(Publisher’s Marketing)
I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More
By: Karen Beaumont
A dab of blue here, a splash of red there, a goopy smear of green…everywhere. To the tune of “It
Ain’t Gonna Rain No More,” one creative kid floods his world with color, painting first the walls, then the ceiling, then HIMSELF! Before this feisty artist is through, he’ll have painted his head, back, hands, legs, feet, and…Oh no—here comes Mama!
Karen Beaumont’s zippy text and David Catrow’s zany illustrations turn an infamous childhood activity into raucous storytime fun, giving a silly twist to the fine art of self-expression. (Publisher’s Marketing)
If You’re a Monster and You Know It
By: Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
A brand-new monster twist on a classic song by Caldecott Medalist Ed Emberley and his daughter,
Rebecca Emberley.
Children will stomp their paws, twitch their tails, snort and growl, and wiggle and wriggle along with this bright and bold picture book twist on “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Rebecca Emberley has written a rollicking text, which she has illustrated in collaboration with her father, Caldecott Medalist Ed Emberley. (Publisher’s Marketing)
Hickory Dickory Dog
By: Alison Murray
Charming illustrations highlight a child’s day at school—with a surprise canine visitor—in this twist on a nursery rhyme about the hours of the day.
“Hickory, dickory, dare,
Dogs aren’t allowed in there.
A sneaky peek through…
Then a hullabaloo!
Hickory, dickory, dare.”
Zack and his dog, Rufus, are best friends. So when Zack goes to school, Rufus follows along. And once he’s there, Rufus joins right in with painting, lunchtime, and even garden time—which makes for one messy pup when it’s time to go home! Engaging illustrations capture the people and playthings of a child’s day, with an array of analog clocks sprinkled throughout for good measure. (Publisher’s Marketing)
The Seals on the Bus
By: Lenny Hort
An animal-filled version of the classic children’s song “The Wheels on the Bus.”
“The seals on the bus go errp, errp, errp,
All through the town!”
Two children and their parents board a city bus on their way to a party. At the next stop, who should get on but a group of seals, who holler, “Errp, errp, errp” at the top of their lungs. Each time the bus stops a new kind of animal joins the passengers and adds to the din, to the children’s delight and the parents’ annoyance. But when several hissing skunks want to come aboard, even the children cry, “Help! help! help!”
This hilarious new version of the beloved children’s song The Wheels on the Bus will have young readers errping and roaring and honking along. (Publisher’s Marketing)
Do Your Ears Hang Low?
By: Melissa Everett
The silly, imaginative lyrics to the classic campfire favorite “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” gets
everyone singing and reading along in this adult-directed board book, perfect for engaging and entertaining the youngest of readers. The pleasantly predictable rhyming text paired with colorful illustrations and lovable characters promote phoneme awareness, while the introduction of interrogatives with a rotating descriptor word bolsters compare-and-contrast skills and develops the detection of language changes. The silly, familiar song helps make learning fun, prompting imagination and word play, while imparting a healthy, vibrant, life-loving vibe that can so benefit young children! (Publisher’s Marketing)
Old Manhattan Has Some Farms
By: Susan Lendroth
Old MacDonald would be greatly surprised to find that although his cows and pigs and sheep might
need a rural setting, cities are just fine for growing lots of healthy crops. From Manhattan to Atlanta to Chicago and beyond, in cities across the United States and Canada, urban farmers are carving out spaces on rooftops and windowsills, in empty lots, backyards and community gardens. Lendroth literally makes the facts sing to the tune of the old folk song, with the refrain “E-I-E-I-Grow” following each city’s verse. (Publisher’s Marketing)
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