“It’s the same song!” a family member says to the room as she starts singing the ageless lullaby Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star much to the joy of the only 2-year-old in the room.
“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” they sing together.
“H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P” my family member finishes to prove her point. (Go ahead, try it yourself!)
“SEE?!” they say with delight and continues the rest of Twinkle, Twinkle with the 2-year-old.
Isn’t it cool that even as a grown person, you can make new discoveries and be just as delighted by them as if you had figured that out as a child? I had a blast watching the multiple generations in the room enjoy singing the two songs together, learning, bonding, and twinkling the next 5 minutes away. It warmed my little Librarian heart.
Some children’s songs are just invariably beloved by kids and grown-ups alike and, I write this with all the seriousness I possess as a professional:
Twinkle, Twinkle, is a BOP.
So much so even that you can find great picture books based on the words or tune of this song.
“Secret, Secret Agent Guy” by written by Kira Bigwood and illustrated by Celia Krampien is a book you can sing entirely to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Because of this, it is a terrific book to read and sing before bed. Plus, it has the added “coolness” factor of secret agents thrown in the mix!
Singing is one of the 5 Build-A-Reader Activities that helps build our little readers by slowing down our language to help differentiate the sounds of individual words. Singing the words of a book while reading together can help slow down the story or add a new complex layer to it. If you are or your child are having trouble connecting to a story, pick a tune (any tune!) and start singing the words instead. It just might catch your child’s attention and imagination in a new way.
“Secret, Secret Agent Guy” is a remarkable story on its own, but there are many ways to read it! Here are my suggestions on how to read it together with your very own little Secret Agents:
- Read it through normally, reading the story and looking at the pictures, pausing if there are any questions or comments from your child.
- Did you expect that ending?
- Did your child notice anything in the pictures or words that they brought to your attention?
- Read it through again but this time just look and talk about the pictures on each of the pages. Illustrator Celia Krampien packs so much detail into each page of “Secret, Secret Agent Guy” so there are a lot of clues to find on each page.
- A “picture walk” like this helps build our understanding of stories beyond words!
- Lastly, read it all again, but this time sing it to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
- How did your child react to the new way to read it? Did they recognize the tune? Were they thrilled to discover that the words of the book fit perfectly into the tune? I know I was!
- Did singing the book add anything new to the story?
Check out “Secret, Secret Agent Guy” or other tuneful books and enjoy reading and singing with your little ones every day to help build our little readers!
- Julia Cantrell, Youth Librarian, Peggy Helmerich Library