Posts Tagged ‘Linda Bleck’
I love Linda Bleck’s illustrations and especially these treasury collections, which illustrate many wonderful songs!
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A Children’s Treasury of Lullabies
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
This compilation includes:
“Frere Jacques“
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
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A Children’s Treasury of Poems
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
This compilation includes:
“How Doth the Little Crocodile” (Words by Lewis Carroll)
“Little Turtle” (Poem by Vachel Lindsay, Traditional Tune)
“The Owl and the Pussycat“ (Poem by Edward Lear, Musical Composition by Janene Ping and Lorraine Nelson Wolf)
“The Swing” (Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Traditional Tune)
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A Children’s Treasury of Prayers
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
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A Children’s Treasury of Mother Goose
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
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A Children’s Treasury of Nursery Rhymes
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
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A Children’s Treasury of Songs
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
This compilation includes the following songs:
“Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“Do You Know the Muffin Man” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“Itsy Bitsy Spider” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“Pop Goes the Weasel” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“Yankee Doodle” (Traditional Words and Tune)
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Illustrator Linda Bleck’s Website:
http://www.lindableck.com/
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Related Posts
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MOTHER GOOSE COMPILATIONS
A list containing compilations of Mother Goose Singable Picture Books and resources for learning, singing, and playing the tunes
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/mother-goose-singable-picture-books-rhymes-and-songs-in-compilations/
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LINDA BLECK’S CHILDREN’S TREASURIES
Children’s Treasuries by Linda Bleck (with many singable treasures)
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/childrens-treasuries-by-linda-bleck-with-many-singable-treasures/
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POETRY SINGABLE POETRY IN COMPILATIONS
An list of singable poems from compilations of poetry for children
http://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
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/poems-individually-illustrated-spb/
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ILLUSTRATED SONGBOOKS AND COLLECTIONS (COMPILATIONS) OF CHILDREN’S SONGS WITH MUSIC
This list is populated by books that compile printed music and illustrations for children’s songs
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/illustrated-collections-of-childrens-songs-with-music/
One of my favorite little songs to sing is The Little Turtle.
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“The Little Turtle” is a singable poem, written by Vachel Lindsay:
The Little Turtle
Poem Vachel Lindsay
There was a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in a puddle.
He climbed on the rocks.
He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
And he snapped at me.
He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn’t catch me.
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In a few places, I found this subtitle for the poem:
“A Recitation for Martha Wakefield, Three Years Old”
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Sing-along with me, “Little Turtle” on the SingBooksWithEmily MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/singbookswithemily
(Just scroll down the list of songs in the song box and you’ll find it there!)
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The poem was first published in Mr. Lindsay’s book ”The Golden Whales of California and Other Rhymes in the American Language” (New York: Macmillan, 1920): and then in his ”Collected Poems” (New York: Macmillan, 1923).
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1308.html
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You will find “The Little Turtle” in oodles of compilations of children’s poetry, including:
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A Children’s Treasury of Poems
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
The Little Turtle is printed and illustrated in this book (which does not feature page numbers)
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A Family of Poems (My Favorite Poetry for Children)
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Illustrated by Jon Muth
The Little Turtle is printed and illustrated on p.48
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Childcraft, Volume 1, Poems of Early Childhood
Published by Field Enterprises Educational Corporation
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Various Artists
The Little Turtle is printed and illustrated on p. 96
(The pictures above show the binding and title page)
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Found on p. 96 of Childcraft, Volume 1, Poems of Early Childhood, Illustrated by Priscilla Pointer
The Little Turtle
Poem by Vachel Linsay
Traditional Tune
Illustrated by Priscilla Pointer
From: Childcraft, Volume 1, Poems of Early Childhood, p. 96
Sing LITTLE TURTLE with Emily, here:
https://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/there-was-a-little-turtle-eleg-2010
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(You can use all the tunes mentioned in this post to sing this rhyme…it’s a two-for-one!)
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Read a detailed biography of poet Vachel Lindsay on the website of the Poetry Foundation:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=80796
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A shorter, interesting biography on PoemHunter:
http://www.poemhunter.com/vachel-lindsay/biography/
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I found this online about John Alan Carpenter’s musical setting for “The Little Turtle,”
“Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) had wanted Carpenter, a long-time friend, to set his verse for nearly a decade before Carpenter finally composed “The Little Turtle” in 1926. Carpenter, ever drawn to children’s verse, chose a rather uncharacteristic poem Lindsay had written as “a recitation for Martha Wakefield, three years old.” Pollack writes that the “tune is folkish but somewhat jazzed up, with snazzy syncopations in the vocal lines and blue notes in the accompaniment. It is a children’s song for the jazz age and one of Carpenter’s most delightful.” The song is unpublished.”
http://www.dramonline.org/albums/songs-of-john-alden-carpenter/notes
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But I just happened to have been familiar with this recording, which uses a similar tune, sung by a classical baritone, to the one I had learned for this song:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Turtle/dp/B000QWYQ66/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1282644296&sr=8-2
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You can also find a composition (sung by a woman who’s credit I couldn’t find…) for “The Little Turtle” on,
This is a fabulous CD with 90 songs delightfully and simply sung (so many children’s CDs over produce the songs, making them far too sugary and yuck). “90 Nifty Songs” has helped me learn or remember the tunes so MANY a snappy song.
The complete song list is on Peter Moses’s website:
http://www.petermoses.com/90niftysongs.htm
Peter Moses Website:
http://www.petermoses.com/
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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
http://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
http://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!
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/singable-picture-books-with-sneaky-educational-content/
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The Little Turtle, a Singable Poem Song Sheet from Childcraft, for Poetry Month
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/the-little-turtle-a-singable-poem-song-sheet-from-childcraft-for-poetry-month/
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The Swing
Poem by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Traditional Tune
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
Originally Published in A Child’s Garden of Verses
ISBN 978-1897476482
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The Swing
Poem by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Traditional Tune
Illustrated by Esther Friend, p. 132 of Childcraft, Volume 1, The Poems of Early Childhood (1954)
Originally Published in A Child’s Garden of Verses
To view or print this page, click here:
SWING RLS childcraft Friend ELEG type
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Book trailer for Julie Morstad’s illustration of “The Swing”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUaJhfX1Lk8
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The barn swing illustration from “Charlotte’s Web,” by Garth Williams
I was reading “Charlotte’s Web” to my daughter this morning (7/29/2010 – she was eating a soy ice-cream-sunday with nuts she cracked open herself, as she is partial to freshly cracked pecans). “Charlotte’s Web” is one of my very favorite books. I love the book first because my grandmother read it to me when I was little. I called my grandmother ”Penny,” her name was Grace Evangelyn Morgan Everson. She was a second grade teacher in Indianapolis, IN for more than 30 years. Besides my sentimental attachment to the book, I have found so much wonder in it. Though the book seems simple at first, every time I read it, new ideas, images and sweet thoughts emerge.
I might have glossed over the passage about Zuckerman’s swing before,
Mr. Zuckerman had the best swing in the county. It was a single long piece of heavy rope tied to the beam over the north doorway. At the bottom end of the rope was a fat knot to sit on. It was arranged so that you could swing without being pushed. you climbed a ladder to the hayloft. Then, holding the rope, you stood at the edge and looked down, and were scared and dizzy. Then you straddled the knot, so that it acted as a seat. Then you got up all your nerve, took a deep breath, and jumped. For a second you seemed to be falling to the barn floor far below, but then suddenly the rope would begin to catch you and you would sail through the barn door going a mile a minute, with the wind whistling in your eyes and ears and hair. Then you would zoom upward into the sky, and look up at the clouds, and the rope would twist and you would twist and turn with the rope. Then you would drop down, down, down, out of the sky and come sailing back into the barn almost into the hayloft, then sail out again (not quite so far this time), then in again (not quite so high), then out again, then in again, then out, then in; and then you’d jump off and fall down and let somebody else try it.
(Excerpt from “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White)
Today I realized that this story goes sweetly with “The Swing” a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” which can be sung to a charming waltz.
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The Swing
Poem Robert Louis Stevenson
From “A Child’s Garden of Verses“
Traditional Music
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
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You can find an excellent traditional waltz for singing this poem, sung “The Cedarmont Kids,” here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Swing/dp/B0013AJ4JE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1293737796&sr=8-2
(Track 16 of Disk 3)
The music is printed in,
Kids Classics Collection 2 (80 Classic songs for Kids)
Easy Piano-Vocal Arrangements in singable Keys
Music Arranged by Matt Huesmanna nd Chris Davis
Vocal Arrangements by Mike Gay
Published by Cedarmont Music LLC
“The Swing” is printed on p.110
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Click here for an archival summary of musical settings of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poetry:
http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/richard-dury-archive/music.htm
Of course I always loved a good ol’ swing set. Years later, when I enjoyed my single young-womanhood in New York City, I loved to visit the playground situated at the north end of Central Park which featured an excellent swing set. It was fun to push-off and swing away the anxiety and uncertainty of being a single girl making her own way in the big city.
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“The Swing” is one of my favorites in “A Child’s Garden of Verses,”
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A Child’s Garden of Verses
Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson
Musical Settings by Various Artists
Illustrated by Brian Wildsmith
Interestingly, each edition (and there are many illustrations) RLS’s collection includes a different set and order of the poems, but “The Swing” is included in every edition of “A Child’s Garden of Verses” that I’ve found so far:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/a-childs-garden-of-verses-singable-poems-by-robert-louis-stevenson/
And in many delightful collections of poetry for children, including:
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A Children’s Treasury of Poems
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
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Poetry for Young People: Robert Louis Stevenson
Edited by Frances Schoonmaker
Illustrated by Lucy Corvino
(Singable Poems include: Bed in Summer, The Swing, The Land of Counterpane)
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A Family of Poems (My Favorite Poetry for Children)
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Illustrated by Jon Muth
“The Swing” by RLS is printed and illustrated on pps. 105-106
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Ursula Shaw, has a charming illustration of the poem on her blog “Ursula’s Art,”
http://ursulashaw.blogspot.com/2007/07/illustration-friday-poem.html
(Original artwork shown with permission from Ms. Shaw)
Bullwinkle recited his own version of the poem:
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Link to my post about A Child’s Garden of Verses:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/a-childs-garden-of-verses-singable-poems-by-robert-louis-stevenson/
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Link to the post “Mark Twain on Robert Louis Stevenson“
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/mark-twain-on-robert-louis-stevenson/
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Two illustrations for “The Swing” by the fabulous illustrator EULALIE :
This one was first published in “The Bumper Book,”
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“The Swing” is one of the songs we selected to be part of
“Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret.”
Completing my Song Craft Worksheet is part of my process for working on songs:
Because the first section of the Song Craft Worksheet involves background research on the song, I’ll share the answers with you so you can know about the song, too. The more about the song you know (both concrete facts and less tangible artistic choices), the more “authority,” and heart and soul you can put into the singing and sharing of the song with others. If you are interested in improving your artistic abilities for singing songs in any capacity, just simply filling out the Song Craft Worksheet is a great place to start! After the background research, the rest of the Song Craft Worksheet gets VERY personal…don’t worry! I won’t bore you with that.
1 Q: Who wrote the words?
1 A: Robert Louis Stevenson
2Q: Who wrote the music?
2A: The tune is considered “Traditional,” meaning that the exact origins of the tune are either ancient or ambiguous and that the tune is so ubiquitous it can’t be attributed one person. The tune belongs to everyone and is in ”The Public Domain.”
3Q: When was the song written?
3A: The poem was written by RLS and first published in 1885
4Q: At what point in the lyricists’ and composer’s career was the song written?
4A: RLS was born in 1850 and died young in 1894. He published “Child’s Garden” in 1885, just after writing “Treasure Island” but before writing “Jekyll and Hyde.”
5Q: What is the song from?
5A: RLS collection of poems, “A Child’s Garden of Verses”
6Q: If from a show, what character sang it?
6A: NA
7Q: If from a show, from what situation does the song arise? Why does the character sing the song? What function does the song/character play in the story?
7A: NA
8Q: What other contextual elements of the song are significant?
8A: For me, I’ve always loved to swing on a swing set and always seek them out. Plus, when my children were babies, it was the wonderful swing we had that helped them fall asleep on many nights. We’d put ‘em in the swing and they’d start snoozin’ and that was joy for us parents!
9Q: Was the song written for a particular singer? Why?
9A: NA
10Q: If not from a show, why did the songwriter write the song?
10A: NA
11Q: What do you feel the lyricist is trying to say?
11A: Swinging is a joy of childhood, giving a sense freedom and wonder.
12Q: Does the song tell a story or just express feelings or ideas?
12A: This song expresses feelings and ideas about a child’s joy on a swing.
13Q: Who else has recorded this song:
13A:
The rest of the questions require personal answers and I will spare you those!
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Related Posts:
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CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES, SINGABLE POEMS BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/a-childs-garden-of-verses-singable-poems-by-robert-louis-stevenson/
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MARK TWAIN ON ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/mark-twain-on-robert-louis-stevenson/
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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!
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/singable-picture-books-with-sneaky-educational-content/
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POETRY SINGABLE POETRY IN COMPILATIONS
An list of singable poems from compilations of poetry for children
http://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
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/poems-individually-illustrated-spb/
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The Swing (Singable Poem by RLS) a New Illustration by Julie Morstad
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/the-swing-singable-poem-by-rls-a-new-illustration-by-julie-morstad/
“Read, Sing, Play ABC Sing-Along,” A Singable Book, Letter K (tune of “Rock-a-Bye, Baby”)
Posted on: May 24, 2010
Rock-a-Bye, Letter K
Sing the words of the song for the letter K to the tune of “Rock-a-Bye, Baby.”
Read, Sing, Play ABC Sing-Along
Words Adapted by Teddy Slater
Illustrated by Liisa Chauncy Guida
Kitten and Kettle
(Lyrics by Teddy Slater, from book “ABC Sing-Along,” sing to the tune of “Rock-a-Bye, Baby”)
Kitten and kettle,
kite and kazoo;
key, kitchen, kingdom,
and kangaroo;
king, kid and ketchup,
koala bear…
How many K words
did you just hear?
For singing along, I like this track,
http://www.amazon.com/Rockabye-Baby/dp/B001DTC0A0/ref=sr_1_47?ie=UTF8&qid=1274639912&sr=1-47
Rock-a-Bye, Baby
Traditional Words and Tune
Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.
The origins of the words (which have a number of variations) is imprecise. Read an interesting wiki article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-a-bye_Baby
The wiki article mentions that, “The melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero.”
Find a joyous performance of “Lilliburlero” by the Christmas Revels,
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QVHAN8/ref=dm_dp_trk6?ie=UTF8&qid=1274639450&sr=8-1-fkmr0
Find a cute one page illustration of “Rock-a-Bye, Baby” in,
Children’s Treasury of Lullabies
Traditional Words and Tunes
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
(This book has no page numbers, but you can find “Rock-a-Bye, Baby,” about one-third the way through the book)
“Read, Sing, Play ABC Sing-Along,” A Singable Book, Letter J (tune of “Frere Jacques”)
Posted on: May 22, 2010
Are you sleeping, letter J?
Sing the words of the song for the letter J to the tune of “Frere Jacques!”
Read, Sing, Play ABC Sing-Along
Words Adapted by Teddy Slater
Illustrated by Liisa Chauncy Guida
James and Judy
(Lyrics by Teddy Slater, from book “ABC Sing-Along”)
James and Judy, James and Judy
jumped all day, jumped all night.
Jumping Double Dutch, they
jumped rope much too much; they
jumped all night,
jumped all day.
Find a simple, usable sing-along track here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DTDV5I/ref=dm_dp_trk14?ie=UTF8&qid=1274560091&sr=8-2
I love this sing-along track using traditional insturments (played by Nashville Studio Instrumentals):
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/american-heritage-music-set/id259436767
(“Are You Sleeping Brother John” is Track 12 of Disk 2)
In “Frere Jacques” we have another example of the use of an ancient tune. Read an interesting article about the origins of “Frere Jacques” here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A8re_Jacques.
Find a charmingly mousey one page illustration of “Frere Jacques” in
Children’s Treasury of Lullabies
Traditional Words and Tunes
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
(This book has no page numbers, but you can find “Frere Jacques,” in both French and English, about one-third the way through the book)
Use the tune for “Frere Jacques” with this book as well,
Are You Sleeping
Words Adapted by Debbie Tafton O’Neil
Illustrated by Benrei Huang
Frere Jacques
Traditional Words in French, Traditional Tune
Frère Jacques,
Frère Jacques,
Dormez vous?
Dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines,
Sonnez les matines,
Din, din, don!
Din, din, don!
Are You Sleeping Brother John
Traditional Words in English, Traditional Tune
Are you sleeping,
Are you sleeping?
Brother John?
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing,
Morning bells are ringing,
Ding ding dong,
Ding ding dong.
With special thanks to my friend Jill Leger, I figured out how to post vocals on MySpace.com.
http://www.myspace.com/singbookswithemily
I am learning ways to share vocals and tunes for some of the wonderful songs housed in the Singable Picture Books. The learning process continues. But, for now, you can sing along with the following tunes on the “Sing Books with Emily” page on MySpace.com, http://www.myspace.com/singbookswithemily :
- “The Owl and the Pussycat” (Words by Edward Lear, Music by Lorraine Nelson Wolf and Janene Ping)
- “Stopping by Woods” (Words by Robert Frost, Tune of “Greensleeves”)
- “ZYX’s Next Time Let’s All Go to Texas” (Traditional Words and Tune)
- “Twinkle Little Bat” (Words by Lewis Carroll, Traditional Tune)
- “Little Turtle” (Words by Vachel Lindsay, Traditional Tune)
- “Hush Little Baby” (Traditional Words and Tune)
“The Owl and the Pussycat”
Owl and the Pussycat
Poem by Edward Lear
Illustrated by Jan Brett
“Stopping by Woods”
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Poem by Robert Frost
Illustrated by Susan Jeffers
“ZYX’s Next Time Let’s All Go to Texas”
You can sing the ZYX’s with any ABC book, but just to jog your memory, here are the letters:
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
Now I know my ZYX’s, next time let’s all go to Texas!
“Twinkle Little Bat”
The Mad Hatter sings “Twinkle Little Bat” when Alice visits the crazy tea party in Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
Poetry for Young People: Lewis Carroll
Edited by Edward Mendelson
Illustrated by Eric Copeland
(“Twinkle Little Bat” is the last poem printed in the book)
“Little Turtle”
A Children’s Treasury of Poems
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
(“Little Turtle,” by Vachel Lindsay is included in this charming book of poetry for children.)
“Hush, Little Baby”
Hush, Little Baby
Traditional words and tune
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
