The School Necessities: Our Five Favorite Singable Books

Hello friends and happy Wednesday! Many of your kids have probably already started school or are starting soon and we have lots to do before we head back to the classroom in 2 weeks. To keep with our monthly theme of transitioning back to school, we’ve decided to share our favorite singable books that we like to take with us during the year. These books always have a special academic component that fits in with our weekly theme, whether it be counting, color identification, body identification, or simply transitioning to school. Look below for our short list of must-haves!

Rocking in My School Shoes: If you haven’t heard of Pete, he’s a pretty cool cat. These books by Eric Litwin are super catchy and fun for kids to sing along with. This particular Pete the Cat book is called Rocking in My School Shoes (click for a direct link to purchase). No matter where he goes, and even when he’s in brand new places in a brand new school, Pete the Cat just keeps on singing. Such a perfect story for starting up the school year. Take a listen here!

Outdoor Opposites: Once again, Barefoot Books save the day. We can’t say enough wonderful things about this company, and neither can our clients. Outdoor Opposites teaches us all about things that are different. We learn about high and low, fast and slow, in and out, quiet and loud, and many other opposites. This can sometimes be a difficult skill to teach, but we love using this sing along version to help us out! Click here to watch and listen! Check out the back of the book for the sheet music and CD, too!

Wheels on the Bus: Another from our Barefoot family, this book Wheels on the Bus takes place in Guatemala. While set to the familiar tune, this book has a special lyrical twist to keep kids engaged. In the back of the book, there are also some facts and information about Guatemala including physical features, markets, chicken buses, weaving, money, and the Guatemalan flag. We love mixing a little bit of cultural learning into our sessions. Watch it here!

Today is Monday: This book is perfect for teaching kids the names of the days of the week. Today is Monday is versatile in terms of goal areas you can address. Goals include matching, gross motor imitation, recall, sequencing, sight words, choice making, and turn taking. We love to use this as a songwriting opportunity for kids to input their own favorite foods for each day of the week. We did a blog post specifically on this favorite a while back, take a look at it here. Another wonderful thing about this book is that it also comes with written out notation for parents or music therapist who can sight read/play music. Here’s a YouTube link!

Ain’t Gonna Paint No More: Last but not least, we have I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More. This has been a favorite of ours for quite some time. Check out our past blog post on this singable book here. With lots of rhyming words, kids love figuring out what comes next. We paint our necks, our backs, our arms, our legs, and who knows what else! Sometimes we use scarves and put them on whatever part of the body each page is talking about. If you haven’t heard it, listen here!

Thanks for tuning in to our blog post this week! We hope you have a chance to check out our favorite singable books. If you have any others that you think we could use, let us know!

Lacey Reimnitz  |  Toneworks Music Therapy Intern