A Dozen Books to Sing To Your Child

My kids and I love reading books. We love singing. Books that we can sing are the best! I always like to choose at least one singing book as part of our before-bed selection. Singing together is so relaxing. I also find that singing stories to children holds their attention better than just reading a book.

Here is a quick rundown of some of our favorite sing-along books. Most of these are available in multiple formats - hardcover, paperback, and board book - so be sure to make the choice that's right for your children.



12. Mary Had a Little Lamb by Jonas Sickler

Indestructibles are made of a synthetic, paper-like material that is water-proof and can be cleaned! Babies love holding them and chewing on them because they feel like paper. The pictures in this rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb are adorable. My kids like singing this book on repeat.



11. Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long

The familiar version of the poem, Hush Little Baby, talks about Daddy buying Baby all kinds of things: a diamond ring, a cart and a bull, a dog named Rover, and so on. This updated song, by Sylvia Long, has a more natural approach. The Mama in the poem shows her little Baby a lightning bug, plays him a song on her old banjo, and points out a shooting star. It's a soothing book to sing and a great one to choose right before bed.



10. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Jerry Pinkney

The paintings in this book are totally gorgeous. I love to sing it just to look at the pictures of a cute chipmunk who goes on a dreamy adventure. Not every page has words to sing, which means that your song will occasionally be interrupted by talking about the chipmunk's voyage. That said, it's still relaxing enough to sing at bedtime. Twinkle Twinkle has always been one of my favorite nighttime songs, and this book is such a lovely accompaniment.






9. Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton, Illustrated by Eric Puybaret

The style of the art in Puff, the Magic Dragon is very unique. The dragon really excites my son. I like singing this song because it's so incredibly cheesy and really sweet at the same time. I fast-forward slightly through the end verses since they seem to dwell on the sadness of the dragon for so long. I'm glad that the illustrator was nice enough to add a happy ending in the last painting. The book also includes a CD of the song sung by the original artists, Peter, Paul and Mary.



8. The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock by Jim Aylesworth, Illustrated by Eileen Christelow

If you ever wanted to know what happened to the mouse after the clock struck one, then this is the book for you and your children. The little mouse has a new adventure every hour as the clock counts from 1 to 12. Seven is always a tough rhyme, but in this countdown, I laugh every time I read that the mouse's real name is Kevin! Who knew?!



7. Over in the Jungle, Over in the Arctic, Over in the Ocean, all by Marianne Berkes, Illustrated by Jeanette Canyon and Jill Dubin

I can't say enough about these books. Each has the same tune, which is the familiar song "Over in the Meadow". Instead of a meadow, though, we are treated to incredible illustrations of rainforest, Arctic, and coral reef inhabitants. Two of the books are illustrated using clay and the Arctic edition features paper collage. All of them are really fun to look at - the details are incredible. My son likes that there are large spreads at the end of each where you can find all of the animals if you look really carefully.



6. Wheels on the Bus, Illustrated by Jerry Smath

This song is pure fun, and this chubby little board book was an absolute favorite of my kids when they were big babies and toddlers. Each page has really cute illustrations of a yellow bus full of funny characters. I love that this song includes so many actions to teach. Young toddlers are able to learn the actions to accompany your singing well before they are able to sing it for themselves!



5. Down By the Bay by Raffi, Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

I love Nadine Bernard Westcott's humorous style in this book. My kids crack up every time we sing Down By the Bay. Who has ever heard of a goose kissing a moose? And worse - llamas eating pajamas?! This one is fun to do as a call and response, too. This book, like some of the others, has the music written out inside, which is a nice bonus.

4. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow

The lesson in this story, that if you jump on the bed, you'll surely bump your head, doesn't seem to be a deterrent for my kids. If anything, they want to jump on the bed even more! That said, I still love this book. It's a great counting song with some fun actions to go along with the story. My littlest one loves wagging her finger at the monkeys while she says, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" This one also has a surprise ending. I won't spoil it for you.



3. Baby Beluga by Raffi, Illustrated by Ashley Wolff

Beautiful paintings! Beautiful song! I love beluga whales, and that may be partly because of this precious song. Singing this book was one of the first ways that I got my son to start talking. He could say the word "go", which is repeated at the end of many lines of the book. If I sang everything else and just left off the word "go", he couldn't help himself - he would fill in the blank! It was so exciting to finally hear him communicate. We still love Baby Beluga as a bedtime story.



 2. Five Little Ducks Illustrated by Pamela Paparone

Pamela Paparone's illustrations are full of cute details and I love the scene she has set. Her ducks are very human-like. As an example, the mama duck bakes an apple pie and the ducklings eat the pie and go to sleep in a nice big bed. I love singing this song and my toddler loves contributing the "quack, quack, quack" line.



1. Old MacDonald by Amy Schwartz

This book is a treasure that we first found by chance at the library. The illustrations are so much fun to investigate. Amy Schwartz tells a story of a whole farming family, with little humorous details throughout. It's fun to read again and again because we keep finding new bits each time. Old MacDonald is the perfect song to sing with kids, too, because it's repetitive, includes animal sounds, and has easy parts to sing. We started reading this book when my son could only sing the "O" of "E-I-E-I-O", and it was awesome to see him add more and more of the words as he sang. It's hard to find this book. Try checking it out from the library first. Maybe you'll love it as much as we do!

I hope that you enjoy some of these singing books. I'd love to hear about your favorites, too!