Sing “Dites-Moi” in English with a Singable Picture Book Illustrated with Kid’s Artwork

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: July 10, 2011

• In: Art of Singing a Song | Case for Singable Books | Heartfelt Musings | Sing Books with Emily Sing-Along Materials | Singable Book Title
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It would be hard to find a sweeter song then “Dites-Moi,” written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical SOUTH PACIFIC.

The children in Kindergarten and First Grades at Tuckahoe Elementary made me wonderful artwork this year and I used some of it to create a little book for singing this song in English.

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Dites-Moi
Words (in English) by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated with Artwork by Student of Tuckahoe Elementary School
Book Assembled by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
To view or print this booklet, click here:
dites-moi SPB eng SBWE ELEG 07 2011

This book is for classroom, home and library use only.

Click here for my post dedicated to this song (including videos and song history links)
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/getting-to-know-you-dites-moi/

The original French lyrics for this song are printed and illustrated in:

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“Dites-Moi,” found in:

Getting to Know You
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 2002
ISBN 0-06-626845-5

“Dites-Moi” (from SOUTH PACIFIC) gets a one page treatment, but what fun it is!

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Sing it in French (illustrated on p. 32 of “Getting to Know You“):

Dites-moi Pourquoi
La vie est belle,
Dites-moi Pourquoi
La vie est gai?
Dites-moi Pourquoi,
Chere Mad’moiselle,
Est-ce que Parce que vous m’aimez?

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Sing “Dites-Moi” in English:

Tell me why, please do,
Life is so pretty,
Tell me why, please do,
Life is so gay?
Tell me why, won’t you,
Dear mademoiselle,
Could it be?  Would it be?
You love me?

Since Getting to Know You  prints the lyrics in French, I had been singing the song a second time in English so that kids could know what the words mean.  From now on, I’ll sing the English words using the new Dites-Moi  booklet which is illustrated with pictures made by the kids who are singing with me!

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The song “Dites-Moi” was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical, SOUTH PACIFIC.

(SOUTH PACIFIC 1958 movie poster)

The musical SOUTH PACIFIC, with storyline inspired by James A. Michener’s 1947 Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Tales of the South Pacific,” was first produced on Broadway in 1949.

Find an informative wiki article about the musical’s history, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pacific_(musical)

Watch the “Dites-Moi” YouTube clip from the 1952 London production of SOUTH PACIFIC (starring Mary Martin and Wilbur Evans).  This is a 10+ minute video, but the chidren sing “Dites-Moi” just after the curtain opens (about 45 seconds into the video).  If you watch the whole video, you’ll get to hear Mary Martin sing “Cockeyed Optimist” and “Twin Soliloquies” with Wilber Evans.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSZR53qcguk

If you’d like to sing along,

Track 7 of  “Songs from South Pacific: Karaoke” from Stage Stars Records, has a perfect 47 second karaoke recording for singing “Dites-Moi” along with the book:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/songs-from-south-pacific-karaoke/id343682860

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Related Articles

GETTING TO KNOW YOU, “DITES-MOI”
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/getting-to-know-you-dites-moi/

SING BOOKS WITH EMILY SING-ALONG RESOURCES AND PRINTABLE MATERIALS PAGE
This page is filled with sing-along materials you can view or print
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/sing-along-resources-2/

Tags: Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers, Singable Picture Book, The King and I