Songs for Summer, a List of Summery Singable Picture Books

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: July 15, 2010

• In: Case for Singable Books | Heartfelt Musings | Lyrics | Poetry | Sing Along Tracks | Singable Book Title | Singable Poem | Singable Poetry | Song History | Vocal Tracks
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Brian Wildsmith’s illustration for “Summer Sun” by Robert Louis Stevenson from RLS’s great volume of poetry, “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” which delightfully contains a great many poems that celebrate the joys of summer.

Summer Sun
Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
From:  A Child’s Garden of Verses

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy’s inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.

This is a lovely poem for which I’ve not yet found a specific tune.  But here is another example of verse that can be sung to the useful and equally as lovely “Greensleeves” (also used for the Christmas carol “What Child Is This”) 

Hear the tune here:
http://www.amazon.com/What-Child-Is-This-Instrumental/dp/B001BKEGXU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1267021296&sr=1-18

Summer Singable Books:

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All Things Bright and Beautiful
Words by Cecil F. Alexander
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
(This wonderful rendition of pictures from cut paper, includes a page of info about Mrs. Cecil Francis Alexander and printed music)

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All Things Bright and Beautiful
Poem by Cecil Francis Alexander
Illustrated by Carol Heyer

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All Things Bright and Beautiful
Words by Cecil Frances Alexander
Illustrated by Bruce Whatley

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All Things Bright and Beautiful
Words by Cecil Francis Alexander
Illustrated by Anna Vojtech

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“The Bee”
(Also titled “The Level Bee” or first line “Like trains of cars on tracks of plush”)
Published in: An Illustrated Treasury of Read-Aloud Poems for Young People
Published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York
Illustrated (this poem) by Jessie Wilcox Smith

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Bein’ Green (Sing-A-Song Storybook)
Words and Music by Joe Raposo
Illustrated by Mario Macari

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Being Green
Words and Music by Joe Raposo
Illustrated by Etienne Delessert

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Casey at the Bat (A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888)
Words by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Illustrated by Christopher Bing
Click here for a vocal version of this poem: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cantus8

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Going to the Zoo
Words and Music by Tom Paxton
Illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt
(This book features printed music)

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Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah
Words by Allan Sherman and Lou Busch
Illustrated by Jack E. Davis
(This wonderful novelty song is set to the tune of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours.”)

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Inch by Inch (The Garden Song)
Words and Music by David Mallett
Illustrated by Ora Eitan

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Itsy Bitsy Spider
Music Map Series: Multicultural Song 3
Published by Koomzaal
Traditional Words and Tune

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Little White Duck
Words by Walt Whippo
Music by Bernard Zaritzky
Illustrated by Joan Paley
Burl Ives singing “Little White Duck“: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001386QTM/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&qid=1268673770&sr=8-4
Danny Kaye singing “Little White Duck“: http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-White-Duck/dp/B00270ALR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1268674033&sr=1-1
Raffi singing “Little White Duck”: http://www.amazon.com/Little-White-Duck/dp/B0010VBOAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1268674111&sr=1-1

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Morning Has Broken
Traditional hymn
Poem by Eleanor Farjeon
Illustrated by Tim Ladwig

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Mosquitoes are Ruining My Summer (and other silly dilly camp songs)
Words and Lyric Adaptations by Alan Katz
Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by David Catrow

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Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Published in
 
Getting to Know You
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells

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Over in the Meadow
Traditional Words and Tune
Illustrated by Michael Evans

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Over in the Meadow
Traditional Words and Tune
Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats

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Over the Rainbow
Words and Music by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg
Illustrated by Eric Puybaret

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Poetry for Young People: Robert Louis Stevenson
Edited by Frances Schoonmaker
Illustrated by Lucy Corvino
(Summery Singable Poems include: Bed in Summer, The Swing)

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Poetry for Young People: The Seasons
Edited by John N. Serio
Illustrated by Robert Crockett
(Singable poems include “Sumer is icumen in” an ancient round, “maggie and milly and molly and may,” by ee cummings, “The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats)

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The Rainforest Grew All Around
Traditional Tune (“Green Grass Grew All Around)
Text and Word Adaptations by Susan K. Mitchell
Illustrated by Connie McLennan
(This book includes, besides lyrics, panels of information about each plant or animal mentioned in the song.  It has won many a parent and educator’s choice awards.)

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Summertime (from Porgy and Bess)
Words by DuBose Heyward
Music by George Gershwin
Illustrated by Mike Wimmer

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Sunshine on My Shoulders
Words and Music by John Denver
Illustrated by Christopher Canyon
A related post:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/john-denver-on-singing-the-tonight-show-with-johnny-carson-1974/

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The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by James Warhola

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Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Words by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Illustrated by Jim Burke
(This book features printed music, extensive historical information about the song, and an introduction of Pete Hamill)

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Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Words by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Illustrated by Alec Gillman

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Teddy Bear’s Picnic
Words and Music by Jimmy Kennedy
Illustrated by Alexandra Day

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The Teddy Bear’s Picnic
Words and Music by Jimmy Kennedy
Illustrated by Michael Hague

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“Time to Rise“
Words by Robert Louis Stevenson
Music by Joanie Bartles (Album, “Morning Magic” (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/morning-magic/id299023471), Track 3 for vocals, Track 13 for instrumental)
Poem published in, among other books: 
Tomie’s Little Book of Poems (Poems by various artists, Illustrated by Tomie DePaola)  
A Child’s Garden of Verses (Words by Robert Louis Stevenson, Illustrated in many editions by various artists, Illustration above by Brian Wildsmith for “”Time to Rise“  in “A Child’s Garden of Verses“)

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The Tree in the Wood
(An Old Nursery Song)
Adapted and Illustrated by Christopher Manson

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Tweedle Dee Dee
Traditional Words and Tune (Text based on the traditional song “The Tree in the Wood,” AKA “The Green Grass Grew All Around”)
Illustrated by Charlotte Voake

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Twelve Days of Summer
Traditional Tune (“Twelve Days of Christmas”)
Word Adaptations by Jan Andrews
Illustrated by Susan Rennick Jolliffe 

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What a Wonderful World
Words and Music by Goerge David Weiss and Bob Thiele
Illustrated by Ashely Bryan
(Watch a short/sweet video of Ashley Bryan talking about where he’d most like to be in the world:
http://books.simonandschuster.ca/What-a-Wonderful-World/Bob-Thiele/9780689800870
Find the video window and just press Play)

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What a Wonderful World (Sing-A-Song Storybook)
Words and Music by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele
Illustrated by Renee Graef

 ”Sing Books with Emily” posts about SUMMER songs, include:

Chrysopase a Bee and a Butterfly (about an Emily Dickinson poem and a song by Marshall Barer):
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/chrysopase-a-bee-and-a-butterfly/

About the Singable, anthologized poem “The Fairies” (“There are Fairies at the bottom of our garden…”):
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/fairies-a-singable-poem/

This list is perpetually UNDER CONSTRUCTION!  Please feel free to write with Singable Picture Books you’d like to see included in this list!

At the beginning of school in second grade (my teacher was a beautiful lady named Mrs. Barnett), I write a poem to mark the end of summer.  My mom framed it and put it in my room.  I still have it,

Goodbye, summer.
I had fun with you.
The sun was always shining,
And the sky was always blue.
Goodbye, summer.

Tags: Singable Picture Books