10 Alphabet Songs You May Not Know

Do you ever get tired of singing the ABCs? Breathe new life into your efforts to teach your children the alphabet with these lesser-known ABC songs.

• "Alphabet Medley" by Sharon Lois and Bram
  This song appears on the Sing A to Z album. The track begins with the traditional alphabet song, but the second part of the medley is a totally different -  and very catchy! - tune. Because Sharon, Lois, and Bram are Canadian, they sing "zed" instead of "zee" for  the final letter, which might confuse some US listeners, but you could always learn the tune and sing the song your own way.
• "Nursery Rhyme Rap" from The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays by Pam Schiller, Rafael Lara-Alecio, and Beverly J. Irby
  The chorus of this song is the letters of the alphabet, and the verses are different nursery rhymes. Everything is sung to the tune of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.
• "ABCD Medley" by the Laurie Berkner Band
  In this song, Laurie Berkner gives the traditional alphabet song a bouncy new rhythm and intersperses it with other favorite children's songs, including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
• "African Alphabet"
  This beautiful song from Sesame Street teaches the names of the letters and their corresponding sounds by describing a simple scene from an African jungle. It is sung by Kermit the Frog and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
• "ABC-DEF-GHI"Also from Sesame Street, this song plays with letter sounds as Big Bird attempts to pronounce ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ as one word.
• "A You’re Adorable" 
  This is an old song from the 1940's, a hit version of which was recorded by Perry Como. It has also been heard on Sesame Street and recorded by Sharon, Lois, and Bram and John Lithgow. Martha Alexander also did a really sweet board book version, published in 1994.
• "Marching Around the Alphabet" by Hap Palmer
  Hap Palmer turns the alphabet into a physical game, where kids march around a set of letters lying on the floor, and stop periodically to identify the nearest letter. See this song in action on YouTube.
• "ABC Chant" by Barbara Milne
  This song is a list of the letters just like the original song, but it has a slightly different, gentler tune, which can easily be learned on a guitar or ukulele.
• "El Abecedario" by Jose Luis Orozco
  Jose Luis Orozco is well-known for his Spanish language children's songs. This is his alphabet song, focusing on the letters of the Spanish alphabet. (It is followed by the traditional English alphabet song.)
• "Swinging the Alphabet" by The Three Stooges
  This silly song was featured in a 1938 Three Stooges film called  Violent Is the Word for Curly. According to Wikipedia, it was written even earlier, in 1875, under the title "The Spelling Bee." In the 1980s, it was recorded by Joanie Bartels on Sillytime Magic as simply "The Alphabet Song."

5 Recommended Authors for Kids Who Love Byron Barton and Donald Crews

An adult services librarian friend who has a toddler asked me a while ago for reading suggestions for her son who loves Byron Barton and Donald Crews. Knowing how popular these authors are, I knew that the list I shared with her would probably be helpful to lots of parents with young children, so today I'm compiling it here.

Philemon Sturges

Sturges's collection of simple texts about things young kids love is illustrated with bold pictures by Shari Halpern. The illustrations are similar to Byron Barton's work, and the transportation themes, especially, will appeal to Crews fans.

• I Love Trains
• I Love Trucks
• I Love Planes
• I Love Tools
• I Love Bugs

Emma Garcia

Emma Garcia's onomatopoetic picture books explore cars, construction sites, and tools  through sound. The brightly colored illustrations are perfect for toddlers, and great for large-group story times.

• Toot Toot Beep Beep
• Tip Tip Dig Dig
• Tap Tap Bang Bang
  

Jonathan London

Jonathan London also tells transportation stories using silly sounds words. His books are slightly longer and more suitable for three- and four-year-olds. Denis Roche's illustrations are very similar to Byron Barton's pictures of vehicles in his books. 

• A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa
• A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom
• A Train Goes Clickety-Clack

Babs Bell

Babs Bell's transportation-themed books tell simple stories about waiting for a bridge to go down, and coping with a broken-down vehicle.

• The Bridge is Up (illustrated by Rob Hefferan)
• Sputter Sputter Sput (illustrated by Bob Staake)
  

Jane Cabrera

Among Jane Cabrera's many books are these two adaptations of favorite children's songs about transportation. The Wheels on the Bus is the perfect complement to Byron Barton's My Bus and Row, Row, Row Your Boat pairs nicely with Donald Crews's Sail Away.

• The Wheels on the Bus
• Row Row Row Your Boat

Early Literacy in Everyday Places: The Mud

Spring rain showers provide lots of great chances for kids to play in the mud. Use these early literacy activities to supplement your messy play time.

• Write in the mud with a stick. Help your child practice recognizing letters, sight words, or his name by writing in the mud with a stick and asking the child to name what you have written, or challenge your child to write certain letters or words in the mud on his own and see how many he knows.
• Act out the story of Mrs. Wishy Washy. Pretend to be the cow, duck, and pig who play in the mud, then get washed off  by Mrs. Wishy Washy.  This would be an especially great activity for multiple children to enjoy together. (You can also easily do this one inside if you'd rather avoid a muddy mess.)
• Sing a worm song. While they dig and splash in the mud, kids can sing fun songs like Herman the Worm and Nobody Likes Me.
• Make a mud pie. Encourage kids to use mud, leaves, grass, flowers, and anything else found outdoors to build the perfect mud pie. Have them name their ingredients and narrate the process to enhance their creativity and narrative skills.

For more outdoor early literacy fun, check out these ideas for activities to enjoy at the park. 

Flannel Friday: Bunny by Luana Rinaldo

Last Easter, when Little Miss Muffet was only a few months old, she was given a "Clacker" book by her grandmother. (It looks like this.) The text inside the book is a simple story about a bunny, who loves to bounce. He bounces past a variety of animals, and ends up at home where all the other bunnies are sleeping. Miss Muffet rediscovered the book not long ago, and I read it 10 times in a row in a single morning at her request. After so many readings, I realized it would adapt well to the flannel board and would work well for a variety of Springtime themes. 

Out of respect for copyright, I have only reproduced the text from the first two spreads of the book. Though you could probably make up your own version of the story pretty easily, if you find you would like to have the full text, send me an email, and I will be happy to share. (It seems really unlikely that most libraries would have this book!) 

Bunny

by Luana Rinaldo

Bunny loves to bounce! Boing! Boing!

Bunny bounces over the stream where the fish are splashing.

Splash! Splash! 

Then bunny sees birds in a tree (Tweet! Tweet!)... 

...hens in a field (Cluck! Cluck!)...

...and lambs in a meadow (Baa! Baa!)

Then he goes home to see the rest of the bunnies. 

Flannel Friday is hosted this week by Laura from La La La Library. For more about Flannel Friday, visit the official website.