A Modern Parents' Guide to Nursery Rhymes

ABC
(The Alphabet Song)

"ABC (The Alphabet Song)" is simple, yes, but that doesn't mean it's not wonderful. And forgive me for insulting your intelligence by including the words here, but I think of the alphabet song as the little black dress of nursery verse. It's fun (memorable happy tune) and functional (baby is learning as you sing); a classic that never goes out of style.

Alice the Camel

"Alice the Camel" is a simple, memorable song that takes your little one on a wiggly-jiggly lap ride. Not part of the Old Mother Goose tradition, it's a contemporary number that has quickly become classic. (Listen to the music if you don't know the tune.) Camels are fascinating to children for their mysterious fat-carrying humps—you'll start seeing them soon in children's books and at the zoo. The verse, in addition to featuring an exotic creature, may be baby's first countdown.

Alouette

"Alouette" is a song about a lark who is being plucked before being cooked. You can sing it in French and learn a few new vocabulary words or sing it in the English translation. The song takes brilliantly to variations, adding as many or as few body parts as you like. Don't miss the opportunity to mime plucking your own little lark. Kids love to be plucked.

As I Was Going to St. Ives

"As I Was Going to St. Ives" is a jaunty rhyme, a juicy riddle, and a kid's first trick question all rolled into one. It's a puzzler that may lay the foundation for a life of crossword puzzle, Scrabble, or Sudoku dominance. The rhyme is believed to have ancient origins. A piece of papyrus with a similar riddle involving cats was found in Egypt and dates to around 1700 bce.

A Tisket, A Tasket

What's a tisket? A tasket?! Calm down. These are nonsense words. Don't get your knickers in a twist over every mysterious little tisket, tuffet, or knick-knack paddy whack.

A tisket, a tasket

A green and yellow basket

I wrote a letter to my love

And on the way I dropped it.

I dropped it, I dropped it

And on the way I dropped it

A little boy, he picked it up

And put it in his pocket.

Banbury Cross

"Banbury Cross" can be recited when your child is on a rocking horse—a "cockhorse" is another name for a rocking horse—but of course it works just as well when she's on your lap. You can rock or trot to Banbury Cross. If another adult is in the room, have him make a clopping effect as you recite the poem for a nifty duet.

Clean Up, Clean Up

"Clean Up, Clean Up" might seem like a forgettable little thing, but try singing it when it's time to pick up toys, and you'll see it's a miracle. It is to tidying rooms what Pavlov's bell is to his dog's dinner (see here). Maybe it's the whistle-while-you-work effect. All I know is that it's effective.

Clean up, clean up,

Everybody everywhere,

Clean up, clean up,

Everybody do your share.

De Colores

This traditional song, beloved throughout the Spanish-speaking world, is a celebration of pastoral bliss. It has become the anthem of farm workers and the labor unions supporting them, and has been covered widely. My favorite is Joan Baez's version.

Curiously, though the song is about colors, not a single color is named. After you sing it, point out to baby which colors you can see in your own environment.