There are a lot of songs, and there are a lot of books. And then there are books that are also songs. If your child isn’t old enough to pay attention to the story of a book, maybe you can get their attention by singing. Don’t worry if you think you have a bad singing voice, because your child doesn’t care. Your child isn’t going to be brutally honest like Simon Cowell, judging how well you stay on pitch. No, your child will just enjoy spending time with you. And your baby probably hasn’t heard too much (if any) Christina, Whitney, Taylor, or Billie. There’s not much to compare you to anyway. Here are a few of my favorite books to sing to your children!
BILLY BOY
You might not know the song (Oh Where Have You Been) Billy Boy, but you probably know the tune, and this book goes right along with it. Nellie Belle is an adorable puppy who digs a hole under the fence to go have an adventure. She has fun at the beach and park. She ends up in a spooky forest, dark with a lot of glittering eyes, and she runs home to get back in her bed, cuddling up with her teddy bear. I really like this book, but I have to point out that a lot of reviews on Goodreads have issues with what happens in the pictures, like the fact that dogs can’t eat chocolate. I guess it depends on how perceptive your child is.
ARE YOU HAPPY?
If You’re Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
I think everyone knows this song. There are a lot of fun animals that make this a more enjoyable book and song than the traditional three (or four, if you “do all three”) verses, and Jane Cabrera’s illustrations are so cute, nobody will be scared of the animals as they dance along to the song. A great way to get your child moving their body. You can use it in a lesson about emotions too, and follow the book with a conversation about how a child can show other feelings, and turn each one into a line in the song — “If you’re sad and you know it cry a tear,” or “If you’re angry and you know it scream into a pillow.”
Jane Cabrera has a lot of other books that you can sing to, like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, so check out those too if you like this one.
ROW YOUR BOAT
Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Nosy Crow
I had this book when Charlotte was a toddler, and we love it. There are a few pull tabs, which make it a bit more engaging that just reading it straight through. And though the song is traditional, and again, I think everyone grew up with it… I love that the book has a QR code that leads to the publisher’s website where you can listen to the book being sung, along with musical accompaniment. (Cheat: here’s the YouTube link!) Nosy Crow is another one where there are lots of books to check out that are songs, and you can look up the songs online to use with the book or even separately. The first time we read the book we were surprised by the crocodile verse, which we hadn’t heard before. And her favorite part was the polar bear, with a pull tab revealing the baby bear popping up from behind an ice block.
Check out Miss Michelle’s Book Nook
Miss Michelle shares her book recommendations each month on the In Our Homeschool blog. Find links to all of her posts here.
Miss Michelle is the sister of Kristen, who writes this blog. She has a daughter who is 10 and a son who is 5. They are not home-schooled, but Miss Michelle is super supportive and proud of her sister for doing it. She has been a full-time Children’s Librarian for over 16 years and loves to recommend her favorite books. You can follow her on Goodreads, where she keeps track of books she has read for storytime, at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/170007385-miss-michelle.
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