This Little Piggy with CD: Lap Songs, Finger Plays, Clapping Games and Pantomime Rhymes

by Jane Yolen (Editor), Will Hillenbrand (Illustrator)

You won't be able to resist acting out these dozens of rhymes and games for very young children - an endearing, annotated collection sure to become a family heirloom.

Open this delightful anthology of more than sixty lap songs, clapping
games, and action rhymes and discover the perfect book for babies and
toddlers - and their grateful parents and caregivers. Featuring familiar
favorites such as "Goosey, Goosey, Gander" and "I'm a Little Teapot"
as well as lesser-known rhymes like "Harry Whistle" and "In Went the
Prairie Dog," this comprehensive collection includes directions for play,
historical tidbits, and fourteen simple musical arrangements for piano
and guitar. Masterfully selected and edited by Jane Yolen, whom
NEWSWEEK calls "America's Hans Christian Andersen," THIS LITTLE PIGGY is lavishly illustrated in charming detail by Will Hillenbrand. The bonus CD contains fifteen minutes of lively music and vocals, based on Adam Stemple's original arrangements, including "Dance to Your Daddy", "I'm a Little Teapot," and many others.

Genres: Picture Books, Nursery Rhymes, Childrens, Poetry, Reference, Anthologies, Parenting

80 pages, Hardcover

Published February 14, 2006

About the author

Jane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews

[Kim Pietrobono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Award(s): N/A
Grade: Preschool-Grade 1
Summary: This book is filled with dozens of rhymes and games for young children. It has lap songs, action rhymes, and familiar pieces, like, “I’m a Little Teapot.” The book also includes directions for how to play along, some historical facts, and sheet music for the piano and guitar.
Review: I really like how much this book has to offer. It is more than just a collection of nursery rhymes; it has song, dance, and information. Every kid will be able to find a way to enjoy and interact with this book.
In Class Use: This book can be used during a morning meeting to bring kids together and get ready for the day with some singing and dancing. It can also be used as a fun break during the day when kids need to let out some energy. Kids can come up with different dance moves for each song.

[Danielle Ferro · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Caldecott Medal 2002
2. PreK, K, 1st, 2nd Grade
3. This picture book starts with the original tale of the Three Little Pigs and takes an interesting spin for the better! The three little pigs find themselves in the creative stages of the book and get to travel to other stories. While being creative they make new friends who help them get back home and defeat the wolf.
4. I really like the illustration in this book. I also liked the idea of transforming an old tale that everyone knows into something more relevant and engaging. I think it is important for kids to see something like this because it ties in the idea of imagination and exploration of ideas.
5. I would use this in my future classroom. I think it would make a good lesson for key elements in a story such as the main characters, beginning, middle, end, of a story, and themes.

[Crystal Velez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Award(s): N/A

Grade(s): Birth-Grade 1

Summary: This book contains over 75 pages of pig related nursery rhymes. In addition, there are song sheets so that an instructor or parent can perfrom a rhyme as a song to get the child involved. The book also has directions on how to play with your child and make them dance ex- "To play: Lift the baby up and over your head, then down to your lap, according to the words of the rhyme.".

Review: I really enjoy this nurnery rhyme book and how interactive it is. This book has a lot to offer aside from just simple rhyme, it offers song and dance.

In Class Use: A parenting class (?)

[Emma Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.) No Awards
2.) Pre-school-1st grade
3.) There are songs, rhymes, music to have your student engaged within the book. Some of the songs are "See, Saw, Sacradown", "Dickery Dickery" and "BrowBender." All of these little tips on the bottom to do some kinesthetic learning.
4.) This book was a lot of fun and extremely engaging! The photos were cute and the songs were easy to learn. Also the helpful hints on the bottom allowed the students to get up and move; although some of the dance moves were designed for parents to child.
5.) Sing the songs out loud in the class room, and create dance moves.
Do a talent show with each of the nursery rhymes.

[Gianna Petrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Preschool-5th grade
2. This book has over 15 nursery rhymes in it, including but not limited to; There was an Old Woman, Hickory Dickory Dock, Patty-Cake, Miss Mary Mack, and many more. There are lyrics to the rhymes as well as sheet music for them. There is over 70 pages of fun songs to sing along with.
3. I really like this book mainly because of the sheet music and lyrics. I think it is super adorable and children would love to pick it up and sing or read along. Also it is simple and easy enough that any child could enjoy it.
4. Something fun we could do as a class would be to put the lyrics up on the board and sing along, just like we do in our class. It would get the children happy, moving and involved with the story.

[Shania Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appropriate Grade Levels: Pre-schools - beginning 1st grade (3-6)

Get active and learn how to read at the same time with poems like "The Eensy Weensy Spider" and "Where is Thumbkin". Use your hands and feet again and again to tell the stories and poems as well as sing the songs of many different people and animals. Who knows - maybe you'll learn some manners now and then as well.

This Little Piggy is an amazing collection of poems and songs that allow not only phonological awareness to develop, but also allow a bond to be created between parents and their children. The step-by-step details of how to make the rhymes more physical really makes reading into an experience. The simplistic images of animals throughout the anthology lets the imagination of the audience really flow as well as constantly remind them of the title of the book with the repetition of pig characters.

Classroom Uses:
1) Classroom bonding - sing a song and do hand motions together
2) Casually teach the idea of onset, rimes, rhymes, and alliteration
3) Using familiar text to discover the beginning, medial or ending letters of words ("letter searching" in a text to familiarize them with certain letters)

[James K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems like it was made with young children as the audience, but the songs are applicable for a kindergarten classroom as well. The theme of the book is pigs, so there are pig characters on just about every page since there is some inclusion of other animals as well. The book not only has classic songs that everyone may know like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "This Little Piggy", but also lesser known songs as well which makes reading this book seem more fresh and original. Also, the author provides a game or dance at the bottom of each song, and while these may suggest that they're made for babies, the movements can easily be modified to be developmentally appropriate. The song "How Many Days?" can be sung by a kindergarten class repetitively to teach them the days of the week. In fact, each of these songs can be sung every day because it does not seem like something the children will bore of easily.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection of exactly what the subtitle says! These are games and rhymes to do with the very young--those infants still in your lap, the young toddlers sitting next to you on the floor, and so forth. But this is a LARGE book and it will be hard to hold the book AND read to a child in your lap. The illustrations are delightful and young children will love them. Perhaps the best use of this book is as a reference/resource for parents, care givers, librarians, and teachers who work with very young children and also as a book for young children to simply look at on their own while lying on the floor (it's too big for them to hold).

For the grown-ups: nice bits of history and background are included for the different songs and poems as well as a bibliography.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one gets a three because while some aspects warrant a 5 i.e. exhaustive amount of finger plays, songs, nursery rhymes, etc. others don't deserve more than a 1 i.e. only songs with the written music in the book are on the CD and those songs are sung in a different key (!?!?). My son wanted me to play the piano music along with the CD songs and it sounded awful and we pretty much skipped the rest of the book because it wasn't interesting without the music. I think it would be a good baby shower gift because there are so many things in it that would be fun with little ones for many years, but not necessarily to play piano along with.

[Marya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Little Piggy has all the basic finger plays, clapping games, and lapsits that grownups somehow forget. The illustrations are great, but I'm still not sure if it's meant to be a reference for adults (in which case, why the kid-friendly illustrations?) or something you read to your little one (in which case, why the bulk? It's darn near impossible to bounce a wiggly child on your lap to "This is the way the farmer rides" while also wielding this heavy book). The included CD was useful to hear a small fraction of the songs, though the songs on there were a little too saccharine. Definitely something for the under 2 crowd.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book includes sections on: Lap Songs, Finger Plays, Clapping Games, and Pantomime Rhymes. Chances are you will not like them all (we didn't), but you will find many precious gems that can become a regular part of baby play as well as toddler action play.

The best way to use it is probably to focus on learning one new one a week. Another idea I had was encouraging Grandparents to each select one to make their own with their grandchildren. This book would also be an excellent way for toddler children to connect with younger siblings.

I've put it on my wishlist. Highly recommended.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of mostly British & American nursery rhymes (predominantly ones I had never heard of)that are used for babies and toddlers. They are in the form of lap songs("To Market, To Market"), finger plays ("Where is Thumbkin?")and clapping games ("Pease Porridge Hot"). I loved the background knowledge on each of the songs, along with fairly detailed instructions for each of them. I love the illustrations, which are nice for kids to look at, though I agree it is hard to hold up the book and perform the songs. Good resource for new librarian or parent.

[Rakisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for librarians, teachers, day care workers, and parents of children under the age of three years old. The children will enjoy the pictures in the colorfully illustrated book, and enjoy the repetitive lyrics featured on the accompanying compact disc. Educators and caregivers will enjoy the squeals from their charges.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up in my search for fingerplays and songs to use with PreK and K classes and didn't notice the subtitle, lap songs, that is not on the front cover, but the back. Though not useful for my purposes, it is beautifully illustrated and includes not only the musical arrangements but a CD, as well as interesting historical tidbits about the origin of the rhymes.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of lap rhymes, fingerplays etc to play with young children. A note about each rhyme's origin appears after the title and instructions for play can be found at the bottom of each page. Soft, mixed media illustrations frame the rhymes giving the book a Mother Goose feel.

A useful resource for parents, teachers, librarians or anyone else working with young children. A CD is included.

[Ashlynn Pope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This children book was very creative. Throughout this read it is multiple catchy rhymes about a pig who is a sailor and what he sees in the sea This would be a great book to sing along with children to get them more involved. The artwork is also very pretty showing what the sailor was doing for a better sense for the kids.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a lot of people assume they will just remember these traditional rhymes from their childhoods, but there are a lot out there, and it is nice to have a reference to remind ourselves of ones we heard as kids and learn new ones.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought this was a cute book. I liked that they had songs with the sheet music.

One poem I liked was called Dance, little baby.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olde school rhymes & fingerplays

[Rosanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cute. We listened along to the cd on our commute.

[Kathy]

1. No awards
2. Preschool- first grade
3. This book is a collection of rhymes about animals. Has many well-known rhymes and rhymes that are not popular. Also, has a lot of rhymes that children can clap along too or just their bodies.
4. It is a great book to get your students excited and using their body. I like that there is a cd included so it can be used while showing the body movements. I also like that they give you the directions for the rhymes in case you don't know some.
5.Classroom bonding,transitions