Greetings Jbrarians!
Alyssa Jewell, MLIS (aka La La Librarian) and Rachel See, MT-BC of Singable Book Club here. Lindsey is busy getting back into the swing of baby storytime this month, so she asked us to take the wheel on this blog post. We’re honored! Thanks for having us, Lindsey.
August is prime planning time for a lot of librarians, so we wanted to spotlight a topic we think deserves more love in storytimes: Singable Books. Alyssa is a librarian who loves music, and Rachel is a music therapist who loves books. We’d been chatting back and forth about singable books, and then in June, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released a major early literacy study. It highlights two key findings that are relevant to storytime in general, and singable books in particular:
- Reading skills begin earlier than thought: Phonological processing (previously identified as one of the strongest predictors of reading proficiency) may already begin to develop by birth but undergoes further refinement between infancy and preschool.
- Reading difficulties also begin earlier than thought: 18 months of age is when trajectories diverge — not at age 5 or 6 years as previously thought.
The findings highlight the need for stronger early literacy experiences—especially aural ones that support phonological processing and oral language—from the very start of life. Hmm… that sounds a lot like what we already do in storytimes and babytimes. And drumroll please… singable books!
Those of us who already champion music and singing in storytime are probably saying, “Well, of course you should be singing in storytime!” And often the response is, “But what about actually reading books?” That’s where singable books come in. They are a cornerstone of music therapists’ work and it’s high time librarians had the language to explain why this powerful tool works so well. Let’s dive in!
ALYSSA: Ok Rachel, start us off. What are singable books?
RACHEL: A singable book is a children’s book (picture book or board book) that is musical in nature, due to its repetitive, rhythmic, and/or rhyming format. Many singable books are already set to a familiar melody (e.g. What a Wonderful World) or can be set to a piggyback melody (e.g. Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”) while others can be chanted (e.g. “Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?”). Additionally, many books that rhyme or have a repeating line, lend themselves to one writing their own melody to accompany the book.
ALYSSA: Like Trashy Town? That’s one of my favorite ones you do.
RACHEL: Yes! Exactly.
ALYSSA: Do you have to be able to sing to pull off a singable picture book?
RACHEL: Singable books can be sung-aloud in storytimes, therapy sessions, and classrooms by professionals and caregivers. If you don’t feel comfortable singing, though, they can always be chanted. Chanting is musical! Other ways to add musical elements: add body movements (patting, clapping, tapping), pass out small instruments for them to play when they hear the main line that repeats throughout the book, and/or use scarves to dance with as you read “Over the Rainbow” with the instrumental version of the song playing in the background.
ALYSSA: Why is music such an effective tool for developing early literacy?
RACHEL: Singable books are a tool in which language, speech, and music are all used to convey a message. These three rule-based, structured systems utilize auditory, vocal, and visual elements; specifically, speech and music have pitch, timbre, rhythm, and durational features to help portray the meaning of the message. One main difference, however, and one of the reasons as to why using music when reading can enhance a child’s learning experience, is that music is processed throughout both hemispheres of the brain, whereas language is processed primarily in the left hemisphere.
ALYSSA: This is my new favorite caregiver aside, btw. “We’re going to sing this book because while language is processed in the left side of the brain, music is processed in both sides.”
RACHEL: Ha, yes! The musical aspects of singable books can also be used to engage a child and keep their attention, encourage participation, be a vehicle for memory recall, and be used as a cueing system to help prediction skills (Johansen, 2011).
ALYSSA: It seems like singable books also work well in groups because they engage the whole child, and lots of different kinds of learners. Is there something to that?
RACHEL: Yes, that’s called multimodal learning and singable books can absolutely support each mode!
ALYSSA: Great, so I’m not just imagining that.
RACHEL: Singable books can be a one-stop shop for providing multiple modalities (visual, linguistic, aural, gestural and spatial) in which to engage the child.
- Visually, we are using book illustrations and/or accompanying visuals to support the text.
- Linguistically, we are working on words, grammar, and vocabulary.
- Aural learners will be engaged through the listening of the chant/melody of the books, the tone of voice used while reading, and by singing together as a group. Emphasis, volume, sound effects, rhythm of speech, speed of delivery, pitch, and the way silence is utilized, are equally as important!
- Gestures pair so well with singable books (think: body language and facial expressions). Whether subtle or exaggerated, adding gestures can bring just the right amount of drama to the story to grab the attention of the child.
- Spatially, we can move to the book using body percussion, instruments, dancing, parachutes, stretchy bands, and other props. I highly-recommend incorporating cross-body/cross-lateral movements to get both sides of the brain talking to each other. Lastly, be mindful of the proximity of the children and the way we set up the storytime space. It can make a big difference!
ALYSSA: So clutch.
RACHEL: For sure. But now I’d like to flip the script and hear what you have to say as a storytime expert!
ALYSSA: Oh boy, haha.
RACHEL: What are the benefits of using singable books in library storytimes?
ALYSSA: So many. I’d say 90% of the books I use with babies and toddlers are singable, and for ages 3 and up, probably 50%. Singable books (and singable stories with puppets, felt boards etc.) are the biggest hits in storytime because they are really fun and playful. Playfulness is the most important thing in my opinion. But if you pull back the curtain they also support a lot of early literacy techniques and skills including:
- Dialogic reading and cueing
- Oral language (comprehension, narrative sequencing, working memory)
- Social skills (joint attention, increasing engagement)
- Most of them incorporate movement (gross and fine motor skills)
- Scaffolding learning
- Rapport building
- Print motivation
- Phonological Awareness
Singable books are also great for caregiver engagement (which is something a lot of storytime professionals in library settings struggle with.) Singable books naturally invite caregivers to participate, whether through singing/chanting in unison (The Seals On the Bus), call-and-response (We’re Going On a Bear Hunt), or a repeated phrase (Pete The Cat: I Love My White Shoes) so that cuts down on distractions, promotes bonding, and accomplishes a “showing rather than telling” way of modeling for the caregivers, which I prefer.
RACHEL: What are your favorite singable books for storytime?
ALYSSA: My most requested are the three I just mentioned, I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More, Snuggle Puppy, Toad On the Road, Swallow the Leader, Forty Winks, and anything by Jane Cabrera. Super popular ones like Brown Bear Brown Bear and Little Blue Truck always go over well (because kids love to do what they already know). But there are so many more. I have a bunch of recs in my free resource Storytime Central. What about you?
RACHEL: I’ve written melodies for many books in the Singable Book Club, but my go-to picks that are always at-the-ready are: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, Ten on the Sled, Down By the Station, The Shy Little Monster, The Jazz Fly, We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt, and all of the Barefoot Book singalongs!
Jbrarians, let’s hear from you! What are your favorites? Do you have thoughts and/or questions? Tell us below!
Thanks for letting us guest blog,
Kids really do love singable books! One of the more interesting ones I’ve used is for our Black Brilliance celebration in February at Jazz storytime. It is called This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt and, as you might have guessed, it is sung to the tune of This Old Man. You can really jazz it up and have fun with it!
Great one Susan! Do you use any additional techniques when bringing it to life or let the book do the heavy lifting?
The book certainly does most of the lifting. I try to sing it jazzy and snap with one hand to give a beat. Sometimes the kids and parents clap or snap along and also sometimes we only make it to five if the kiddos are restless.
Love it. Yes – sometimes I only “make it to five too.”
It’s so true! And I LOVE “This Jazz Man”! It’s such a fun one to use for counting 1-10 (and the mini bios in the back of the book are a fantastic educational/historical resource for kids). Your Black Brilliance celebration sounds wonderful!
I love singable books! I’ve found they’re also great for storytimes where you get more families who speak English as a second language, because even if the kids don’t pick up on every word of the book they can engage with the music. We do Raffi’s “Down By the Bay” all the time, and it’s so fun because everyone sings along with us!
That is an excellent point Emily – music is a universal language! I bet Rachel can speak to that better than I can.
Thanks for sharing your experience with singable books! There’s a Hans Christian Andersen quote that I love: “Where words fail, music speaks”. I think it is so true. (Ps. All of those Raffi singable books are ICONIC! Love them!)
Going off of the Raffi idea, “Baby Beluga” is a good one to sing. I’ve also sung “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”.
Two great ones, Jo! Those are classic and never get old. Slightly morbid question…Does the old lady die in your version or cry? When I started a senior librarian used to say, “Nobody dies in storytime!” Hahah
Solid choices! I appreciate how there are now “Old Lady” singable books for all themes and seasons! I like to use “There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves” in the fall (which I’m grateful is just around the corner – yay!).
I really love We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – I always get great engagement from caregivers and children – their faces just light up as we sing together and use actions. I also use Go, Go Pirate Boat by Katrina Charman which is lots of fun too!
Going on a Bear Hunt is a gem!! The movements create such an engaging, interactive experience!! Going on a Leaf hunt is also one of my favs.
Thanks for the Go, Go Pirate Boat suggestion – I will definitely check this out!
I love the Katrina Charman books! SO good. Great suggestion.
I just thought of another one since we are doing it in Toddler Storytime this morning, Old MacDonald Had a …Zoo? by Iza Trapani. You do have to warn people that the verses and sounds after the first one are not what they would expect, but to join right in when they can. Great fun. Everyone enjoys the humorous spin on a favorite song.
Ooo I so appreciate knowing about this one! I own a few of the other Trapani ones – The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Shoo Fly, which are great. I can’t wait to explore the Old MacDonald one – thanks!
Love a book that subverts expectations. Those Trapani ones are clutch. Thank you!
Recently I’ve increased the percentage of singable books to 2/3 of my books in story time (from 1/3) as a way to engage the little ones and grownups. Of course we sing/do rhymes throughout story time, too. Some singable books that have recently gone over well are:
Hen in the Bed by Karina Charman
Pete the Cat singable songs (5 Little Ducks, The Petes go Marching, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc)
We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner
If You’re Happy and You Know It Jungle edition by James Warhola
Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed by Bill Cotter (rhyme/chant)
Amazing!! Love that you’re seeing so much engagement with singable books!! Thanks for sharing your favorites – I ALWAYS appreciate knowing some tried-and-true suggestions I can use!
I was just coming here to comment that I LOVE using Hen in the Bed by Karina Charman too!
I also love Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown Wood- for it’s repetition and fun sounds AND it somehow always gets a rowdy group to quiet down. I like to pair it with a shaker song I found somewhere called The Baby’s Sleeping Don’t Wake Them Up.
Another fun one for chanting and stomping is One Osaraus Two Osaurus by Kim Norman.
I also like to pair sign language with simple books like The Rainbow Snail by Karin Akesson and Butterfly Butterfly by Petr Horacek. I teach the children the signs for rainbow, snail, butterfly, and other simple insect/animal signs. They love it when they finally master a sign and it helps keep them engaged in the story.
Oh wow, these are all amazing suggestions! I love the idea of using sign language in conjunction with the reading/singing! What melody do you use for Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep (or is it more of a chantable book)?
Lucy gets it.
There must be something in the air; I made a blog post (https://www.clel.org/clel-bell-awards/wait-you-can-sing-that/) about singable books just a few days before reading this amazing collaboration. I’m so excited to try out a bunch of your suggestions! As a member of the 2026 CLEL Bell Award selection committee, I’d also love to hear about any newly published (between November 16, 2024 and November 15, 2025) singable books you’re loving here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3LnNVNDAFrHAf82gWk-SBWJ5LP57n25vMK1U0CW0HQwkKkA/viewform?pli=1&pli=1
The CLEL Bells celebrate picture/board books that best exemplify the 5 key early literacy practices (TALK, SING, READ, WRITE, and PLAY); I encourage you all to check out past CLEL Bell SING winners and shortlists for more great title suggestions!
Great minds think alike ;)!! I can’t wait to check out this list and add some new/favorite ones, too! Thank you!!
And special shout out to Thread of Love by Kabir Sehgal & Surishtha Sehgal as one of my favorite singable books, seeing as Raksha Bandhan is right around the corner!
Ali this is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise!
Thread of Love is also one of my favorite singable books! Thank you for mentioning it here. Another book that I have recently loved sharing at story time is, Lovely Day, based on the lyrics by Bill Withers. I recently shared it with a Head Start classroom I visit. After we sang the book together, I played the Bill Withers song over my Bluetooth speaker and the kids enthusiastically danced and sang along with me.
I just received Lovely Day as a gift yesterday – can’t wait to use it! I always love a book that inspires dancing and singing :).
Just sliding in to recommend a personal favourite – Take Me Home, Country Roads! The book is BEAUTIFUL and this song unites generations. I’ve had older patrons come and stand and sing with my storytime kids while I did this book. It’s literally magical. Another favourite is Peace Train by Cat Stevens!
https://www.amazon.ca/Take-Me-Home-Country-Roads/dp/1584690739
https://www.amazon.ca/Peace-Train-Cat-Stevens/dp/0063053993
I love the idea of using Take Me Home, Country Roads for intergenerational groups! My daughter just learned this song at her preschool and it was truly SO sweet to see them all sing the lyrics! I just purchased Peace Train and I can’t wait to use it. Thanks for sharing your favorites!
I am late to replying on this one! Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons is awesome to sing. So many books can be sung even without having the music to them!
Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton is one I just sang to my niece!
I used to tell parents that it’s more important to try singing and join in in case they are worried about singing – kids just love hearing their voices and being a part of it.
I agree – Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons is a solid choice! The pacing is perfect and the my students love the repetition!
Love that approach re: parent singing. I agree: kids love them participating!! 🙂
Oh love the vibe of these. I haven’t done them and am putting them in my fall semester lineup right meow.
Thank you, Alyssa and Rachel, for writing such a wonderful blog post. Not only has it generated tons of great suggestions for singable books, but it also gives us the early literacy research that underpins why these books are so great to use with small children. One of my favourites is I’m a Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian and Ann James which I sing to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” All of these comments actually reminded me of a fun way I see a certain board book to the tune of a pop song, and I think I will write a follow-up post and voice record myself. Stay tuned 🙂
Thank YOU, Lindsey!! It has been an absolute pleasure to talk about one of my favorite topics: singable books!! Can’t wait to check-out Dirty Dinosaur. I love it when I can read/sing something to an already very familiar melody. To use a tune that’s already known not only helps me, but it also helps the kids – they can jump right in and sing along!
So many!
I have a group with a very very short attention span and singing seems to grab their attention more than reading.
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk
Arabella Miller
Groovy Joe books
Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy
Hush Little Bunny
Jane Cabrera, of course
Old Mikamba Had a Farm (ok, it’s a safari, not a farm but I really wanted to use it!)
Cedella Marley Books
First Day of Winter (a Christmas tune by the book is 100% secular, IIRC)
I want to try Bing Bang Chugga Beep
Rockabye Room is a book I loved to sing to my own kids when they were little.
Rock-a-bye Romp by Ashman is also good.
Thank you for taking the time to write so many fantastic recommendations. (And those illustrations for the books in the link you added are absolutely precious!)
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk is one I recently added to my library, as well! Can’t wait to check out the other ones you listed. Do you have a favorite Jane Cabrera book? I don’t think I’ve used hers before, but I see “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” on her list and that would be a perfect singable book to add to my collection!
Maybe Ba Ba Black Sheep because you can follow the sheep’s wool in a string throughout the book.
And that song is lovely but alternative lyrics help a great deal!
Row, Row, Row Your Boat has fun rhymes and The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe is such a cheerful reinterpretation!
Thank you for sparking this conversation!
Thank you for these suggestions, Katy!! 🙂 I just ordered Ba Ba Black Sheep!
And I love these https://www.kaplanco.com/product/85239/sing-a-song-nursery-rhymes-board-books-set-of-10?c=6%7CCB1020&srsltid=AfmBOorwgb8m2i1mq6Pc8AX2-idJMlTiGuWx5TlOQaG2_ImP1VvmPSoB
Fabulous article! Thank you so much for sharing the information, the resources, the specific titles – all of this is helpful. I was already including sing-along books in my storytimes, and now I know to keep it up and add even more if I can.
Here are a few I’ve used before:
If You’re a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley
The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
Spunky Little Monkey by Bill Martin Jr.
Moo, Baa, La, La, La by Sandra Boynton (I read this one and sang it to the tune of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, haha)
These are all fantastic! Thanks, Jayme! If You’re a Monster and You Know It will be PERFECT this time of year! Also, the fact you use Bad Romance for Moo, Baa, La, La, La is PURE GENIUS. Definitely going to use that!!
Jayme, my next blog post was going to be about singing Moo, Baa, La, La, La to the tune of Bad Romance. I was thinking about doing a voice recording, no video. Here I was thinking I came up with that idea, ha! Feel free to email me at jbrary@gmail.com if you want to do a joint post. Maybe we could each share how we do it?
Oh wow, great minds!! I’d love to help out! It’s been a bit since I did that specific one, but I remember the kids and adults enjoying it.