Nursery Rhymes and Chants

I am the bounce in a skipping game and the twinkle in a little star. I am the quiet song whispered just before you fall asleep. You can find me in the sound of a clock going "hickory dickory dock" or in the puzzle of a clumsy egg who had a great fall. I am made of silly sounds, funny words, and rhythms that make you want to clap your hands and tap your feet. I am the magic of words you learn by heart and can say without even thinking. I am Nursery Rhymes, and I have been playing with children like you for a very, very long time.

My story began a very, very long time ago, even before your great-great-great-great-grandparents were born. And here’s a funny secret: I wasn’t always for children. Some of my first rhymes were like secret messages or jokes for grown-ups. One rhyme might have been a riddle about a big, round egg falling off a wall, which was just a silly way to talk about something else entirely. Another might have been a song about farmers sharing wool from their sheep. For hundreds and hundreds of years, I didn't live in books. I lived in people’s voices. I traveled from person to person, a story told by a grandparent to a parent, and then to a child. I changed a little bit with each telling, like a game of telephone. I existed only in memories and songs sung out loud.

For centuries, you could only hear me, not see me. But that all changed. Around the year 1744, a man in London who was a publisher—that’s someone who makes books—decided to print a tiny book called Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. For the very first time, my words were captured on paper for children to read and see. It was so exciting. A few decades later, around the year 1781, a famous character you might know, Mother Goose, helped gather even more of my rhymes. Her book was called Mother Goose's Melody. Because of her and that first little book, I no longer had to rely only on memory. I could travel in backpacks and sit on shelves in homes all over the world.

A Song for Everyone, Forever
Today, I am still here, helping you learn your letters, count your numbers, and just have fun. When you sing about a little spider climbing up a waterspout or a cow that jumped right over the moon, you are sharing a special song with children who lived long, long ago. You are connected to them through me. As long as there are stories to tell and songs to sing, I will be there to share the wonder of words with everyone.