Writing a Successful Piggyback Song

Normally, I'd post about Baby/Toddler Story Time this morning, but I'm on vacation this week, so while I'm away, I thought I'd leave you with my advice for writing piggyback songs. Enjoy!

Until recently, I didn't know there was a name for those songs I create for story time where I borrow a traditional tune and write my own lyrics to match it. Apparently, though, these are called piggyback songs, and they are used not just at story time, but also in classrooms to make memorizing facts easier, or to match particular themes and topics being taught.

I know some librarians don't like piggyback songs at all, but I actually think they are quite useful. I particularly like to introduce the original song and then build upon it to incorporate more vocabulary, and to add a little variety to my repertoire. I've done this with "Bumpin' Up and Down In My Little Red Wagon" and "How Much is that Doggie in the Window", as well as "May There Always Be Sunshine", and "If You're Happy and You Know It". Most of these songs have been well-received by my story time audiences, and since, in most cases, the adults know the tunes, they participate much more with my piggyback songs than with new recordings I might use.

Here are some tips for writing your own successful piggyback songs.

1. Stick to the rhythm of the original song. There is a certain number of beats in each line of a song, and trying to cram more syllables than beats into a line is a recipe for disaster. If the original song says, "The bear went over the mountain," it will still sound okay to sing, "the bird flew over the birch tree" or "the fish swam under the seaweed," because those phrases have the same number of syllables as the original. But if you sing, "The dinosaur stomped through the pine forest" or "The kangaroo ran around with the platypus," the song sounds forced, and it's easy for people's tongues to get tied trying to sing it. It's a good idea to stick to the rhythm and the pattern of the song so that anyone who knows the original can quickly learn the new one.

2. Use imperfect rhymes sparingly. Sometimes you can get away with ending two lines with words that almost but not quite rhyme. I did this recently with my piggyback song based on "How Much is that Doggie in the Window". All the animals I used in the song had tails, except the turtle. When I sang about him, I rhymed "shell" and "sale." It's okay to fudge a little bit now and then in the interest of time and sanity. But it's a bad idea to rhyme every line imperfectly, and/or to use words that sound awkward just because they rhyme. I think this issue comes into play a lot when I'm writing a "five little something" song or rhyme. Only so many words in the English language rhyme with numbers, so sometimes it can be tempting to try lines such as, "Five little girls wearing pinafores. One skipped away, and then there were four." The rhythm works, and the rhyme works, but it's clear that pinafore is a gratuitous choice based solely on how well it rhymes. It's better not to piggyback than to piggyback in a way that detracts from the audience's understanding of your song.

3. Don't overuse tunes. Piggyback songs can be addictive. When I write one I really like, my first instinct is to try and write five more. I love the sense of creativity and accomplishment I get from writing something I really like and am anxious to share. But there always has to be a point where I give in and agree that I've gotten all I can out of a particular tune. There is no need to adapt the same song to suit every theme, even if it looks feasible to do so. I am sure I could come up with many more vehicles to bump up and down in, but I only use "Bumpin' Up and Down In My Little Red Wagon" and "Bumpin' Up and Down on My Little Blue Sled" - one for Winter, and one for all the other seasons of the year. By limiting myself to just those two, I ensure that my audiences will learn both and will recognize and even enjoy the winter-themed deviation during that time of year. I do the same thing with a song called "One Little Finger". I sing the original song in every month of the year except October, when it becomes "One Little Monster" for Halloween.

Only two songs I can think of are versatile enough that I have adapted them for multiple themes. One of them is "Skip To My Lou", which is the tune for my baby/toddler hello song, and also the tune for many action songs I use with preschoolers. I've used it to sing actions associated with a castle theme, a community helpers theme, a shadows theme, and others. But even though the actions and context change each time, I never use this tune for anything other than action songs. I still limit it in a way that makes it easy for my audiences to know what to expect when they hear me sing something to that tune. The other song that works this way is "If You're Happy and You Know It". I've done "If you're a monster and you know it," If you're lucky and you know it," etc. But typically, the actions don't change very much, and it's essentially the same song with just one or two thematic elements added on. "Ten Little Indians" also offers a lot of possibilities, and it's a nice one to use for piggybacks, since it's not really politically correct to sing the original anymore.

4. Have a purpose. Writing piggyback songs is fun, and I fully believe they enrich story times when the songs relate to a book's theme, or provide the soundtrack for an interesting flannel board. But it's important to make informed choices about everything we share in story time, including songs we write ourselves. I often write piggyback songs to introduce richer vocabulary, to reinforce vocabulary from a story I've read, or to create opportunities for movement that relate to a particular theme or book. But sometimes there's no need to reinvent the wheel. I'll never need to write a piggyback song about riding the bus, because "The Wheels on the Bus" already exists. If I read a book about the sun, I'd sing "You Are My Sunshine" or "Mr. Sun" rather than writing a lesser song about sunshine. The purpose of story time is to promote early literacy and expose children to the joys of reading and language. Piggyback songs should always be used to enhance that experience, and never at its expense.

There are many sources for piggyback songs on the Internet. Not all of them are wonderful, but many serve as inspiration for my own ideas. Though they are out of print now, there have also been several books of piggyback songs compiled by Jean Warren, whose website, Preschool Express, has been a really useful resource for finding songs and other story time activities on particular topics.

There are also a number of picture books that have created piggyback songs out of well-known children's songs. A list of some of these titles is below:

• The Wheels on the Racecar by Alex Zane, illustrated by James Warhola 
• This Jazz Man by Karen Erhardt, illustrated by R.G. Roth
• Yankee Doodle by Mary Ann Hoberman and Nadine Bernard Westcott
• The Aunts Go Marching by Maurie Manning
• Waking Up Is Hard To Do by Neil Sedaka, illustrated by Daniel Miyares
• If You're a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
• If You're Happy and You Know It: Jungle Edition by James Warhola
• The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
• The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz
• Take Me Out of the Bathtub by Alan Katz, illustrated by David Catrow
• I’m Still Here in the Bathtub by Alan Katz , illustrated by David Catrow
• On Top of the Potty by Alan Katz , illustrated by David Catrow

And finally, here are some of my favorite piggyback songs. (Songs not otherwise credited were written by me.)

• Ten Little Icicles from Mrs. Jones' Room (Tune: "Ten Little Indians")
• Who is Knocking at My Door? (Tune: "London Bridge")
• Where is Big Toe? from The Complete Resource Book for Infants: Over 700 Experiences for Children from Birth to 18 Months via Mel's Desk (Tune: "Where is Thumbkin?")
• Bumpin' Up and Down on My Little Blue Sled (Tune: "Bumpin' Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon")
• Five Little Snowmen Riding on the Sled from Preschool Education (Tune: "Five Little Monkeys")
• Five Little Pumpkins Round (Tune: "Five Green and Speckled Frogs")