Sing Books with Emily, the Blog

Though I’ve not yet delved into the practice of singing rounds in Sing Books visits, I love the idea of engaging youngsters in the activity of singing in the round.  I always loved singing rounds when I was young for the joy of the challenge and the thrill of the beautiful harmonies and feelings of group unity that doing so inspired.

To get a step further along the road, I’m assembling a list of possible rounds to song along with:

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BIG BEN TELLS TIME
Traditional Words and Tune
Sing the words to Big Ben’s clock chimes with Eloise, here:
https://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/big-ben-tells-time-epg-2013-02
To view or print this page, click here:
big ben tells time

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“Frere Jacques” in:

A Children’s Treasury of Lullabies
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck

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HALLOWEEN ROUND
From “Song Wheel” a music teacher’s blog:
http://songwheel.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/halloween-round/

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The Music is You
Music and Lyrics by John Denver
Book Assembled by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
This book is for classroom or home use only.

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“Sumer is icumen in” an ancient round, in:

Poetry for Young People: The Seasons
Edited by John N. Serio
Illustrated by Robert Crockett

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The Round Book (Rounds Kids Love to Sing)
Compiled by Margaret Read MacDonald and Winifred Jaeger
Illustrated by Yvonne LeBrun Davis
This book features the following rounds:

• Taps

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Rounds About Rounds
Words and Music by Various Artists
Complied and Edited by Jane Yolen
Musical Arrangements by Barbara Green
Illustrated by Gail Gibbons

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Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Traditional Words and Tune
Additional Words by Jane Cabrera
Illustrated by Jane Cabrera

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Simple Gifts (The Shaker Hymn)
Words and Music by Elder Joseph Brackett
Illustrated by Chris Raschka
(You might also enjoy a post about “Simple Gifts at the White House“:
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/simple-gifts-at-the-white-house/
And other Related Posts as well.)
This song seems simple, but it is rich with profound ideas.  And you can sing it fast and you can sing it slow.  You can sing it in a round and you can sing it solo.  You can sing it a-capella or you with another fella…this song is simply a wonderful thing…

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A page for the Sing Books with Emily SINGABLE ADVENT CALENDAR: SIMPLE GIFTS

Simple Gifts (The Shaker Hymn)
Words and Music by Elder Joseph Brackett
To view or print the SBWE Singable Advent Calendar sheet for “Simple Gifts,” click here:
SBWE Advent Calendar simple gifts

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SOFT KITTY (song sheet w chords)
Song by Edith Newlin
From: Songs for the Nursery School
Adapted from English Folk-Tune
Chords by ELEG for SBWE
To view or print this page, click here:
Soft Kitty for SBWE (w chords)

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Sweetly Sings the Donkey (Animal Rounds for Children to Sing and Play on Recorders)
Selected by John Langstaff
Illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker

THIS PRETTY PLANET Collage ELEG SBWE
Collage Art by Emily Gleichenhaus

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This Pretty Planet (Song Sheet w Chords for SBWE)
Words and Music by Tom Chapin and John Forster
Arranged for Ukulele by ELEG for SBWE
To view or print this page, click here:
this pretty planet SBWE w chords

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Three Blind Mice
Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice
Traditional Tune
Words by John Imivey
Illustrated by Walton Corbould

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Three Blind Mice
Traditional Tune
Words by John Imivey
Illustrated by Lorinda Bryan Cauley

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A wiki about rounds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_(music)

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Titles of many rounds:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~msmiller/rounds.html

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ROUNDS GALORE
And resources for singing rounds:
http://roundz.tripod.com/

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A nice lists of round titles in this link:
http://www.choralnet.org/view/221737

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A great list of rounds, here, too:
http://www.singup.org/songbank/song-bank/tags/195-roundcanon/

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Ideas for how to teach children to sing rounds, here:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2278017_teach-first-graders-sing-rounds.html

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Addendum, April 2013

My family recently visited Colonial Williamsburg and I had the opportunity to attend a performance about women in 18th century music (and the very few professional female musicians at the time).  The two wonderful female musician interpreters who performed and spoke on the subject, opened the performance with a “catch” which they informed was an 18th century word for what we now call a “round.”

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Related Posts

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POETRY SINGABLE POETRY IN COMPILATIONS
An list of  singable poems from compilations of poetry for children
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/singable-poetry-a-list-of-poems-that-can-be-sung-from-illustrated-compilations-of-poetry-and-singable-picture-books/

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POETRY, SINGABLE POETRY IN INDIVIDUALLY ILLUSTRATED SINGABLE PICTURE BOOKS
A list of individually illustrated poems that have been set to music and can be sung
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/poems-individually-illustrated-spb/

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EDUCATIONAL CONTENT
A list of SPBs with fun and sneakily educational content.  The kids won’t even know they’re learning!
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/singable-picture-books-with-sneaky-educational-content/