I Love…

The original I Love… is a 1973 country song by Tom T. Hall. I found it via this sweetly gentle cover by the band Low, which sounds half like a lullaby already. I’ve been dreaming of writing it some babytime lyrics for years.

These are my own words, with direct influences from the original lyrics. I was aiming for a mix of lullaby-sweet and parent-relatable. There is so much potential for adapting this song to suit different ages, families, and children, and I’d like to invite you all to share any verses you might write for your own community.

If C isn’t a good key for your voice, try with D – G – A.


I Love…
C       F          C
I love little baby toes
F              C
Kisses on the nose
G7                         C
Sudden joyful laughs, and baths
         F               C
I love books we've read before
     F             C
The baby sign for more
G7                             C
Songs with made-up words, and birds
    F   G7      C
And I love you too

C       F             C
I love sleep without tears
F                 C
Friends who live near
G7                              C
Sunshine through the trees, and bees
        F                 C
I love laundry when it's clean
F                C
Band-aids and vaccines
G7                          C
Coffee when it's hot... or not
    F  G7      C
And I love you too

On the Day You Were Born

I learned this sweet baby-calming song from my colleague Kate during a meeting of children’s librarians. She made quite an impression on us. The Jbrary duo recorded the song, and I promised the musicians among our team that I’d figure out the chords. Have a listen to Dana and Lindsey.

The original is by Cathy Bollinger, from her 2005 album Toddlin Tunes, but the simplified storytime version sounds quite a bit different, and only covers the first verse.


On the Day You Were Born
C                                   F                  C
On the day you were born, I felt my heart get a little bigger
                                   G7
On the day you were born I felt it swell, swell, swell
       C                           F                   C
On the day you were born I felt my heart give a little giggle
                    G7          C
And I knew it would be a better world

Skinnamarink

This week we’re celebrating Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day with a song that always reminds me of childhood thanks to Sharon, Lois, and Bram.

I’ve significantly simplified the chords and transposed them into C to make them easier for playing in storytime. The most common version you’ll find online is in G, like this one at Doctor Uke, and is heavily influenced by Sharon, Lois and Bram. The original version was written by Felix Feist and Al Piantadosi in 1910 as part of a musical.


Skinnamarink
C
Skinnamarink-adink-adink, skinnamarink-adoo
       G7
I love you
                                      
Skinnamarink-adink-adink, skinnamarink-adoo
        C
I love you

C                             F
I love you in the morning and in the afternoon
                               G7
I love you in the evening and underneath the moon
C
Skinnamarink-adink-adink, skinnamarink-adoo
   G7   C
I love you!



This is the sixth in a series of love-the-littles songs.

Yo Te Amo

I learned this gentle lullaby from a beloved mentor/instructor back when I was in library school. I love asking my storytime group how they say “I Love You” in their myriad home languages and then singing them all together. It’s a wonderful way to get to know each other, and glimpse the diversity in our communities. And of course, it offers a moment to reinforce what a gift it is to speak and sing to a child in their home language.

I used to write our group’s “I Love Yous” on a flipchart or white board, but I’ve just made some reversible felt hearts to put up while we sing. I’ve made a few extra blanks so I can keep up with new languages and phrases that the families volunteer.

This song doesn’t seem to be too well known but one of my colleagues recorded it at a rhyme-sharing workshop, and you can listen to it here.

Update: You can now see my friends at Jbrary singing this as well. Thanks Dana & Lindsey! Also, I’ve learned the song origin, and can finally credit Uncle Ruthie Buell. It’s from her album Take a Little Step.


Yo Te Amo
C
Yo te amo, yo te amo
G7                        C
All day long I sing this little song to you
C
Yo te amo, yo te amo
G7             C
Darling I love you


Verses
Wo ai ni... (Mandarin Chinese)
Je t’aime... (French)
Mahal kita... (Tagalog)
Ich liebe dich... (German)
Sarang hae... (Korean)
Daisuki... (Japanese)

We’re participating in Flannel Friday again, so check out this week’s roundup at What Is Bridget Reading?

This is the fifth in a series of love-the-littles songs.

I See the Moon

The Lunar New Year is a big celebration in my city. So with the new year just over a week away, we’re featuring a fitting lullaby love song for the little ones. I generally only sing lullabies at babytimes, but if your toddlertimes are mellower than mine, you might want to sing it with them too.

This song was written by Meredith Willson in the 1950s. Sometimes you’ll hear “God Bless the Moon” sung to the same tune, but this version is quite secular.


I See the Moon
C                    G7
I see the moon, the moon sees me
                               C
Down through the leaves of the old oak tree
                            F
Please, let the light that shines on me
G7                  C
Shine on the one I love

C                   G7
Over the mountain, over the sea
                        C
Back where my heart is longing to be
                            F
Please, let the light that shines on me
G7                  C
Shine on the one I love



This is the fourth in a series of love-the-littles songs.




Love Me Tender (and variations)

Love Me Tender isn’t one of my usual storytime songs, but it would be a fun one to try. And I do have two sweet variations on the tune. Dennis Lee‘s Rock Me Easy is one of my favourite lullabies for babytime. When I sing it, it soothes me too.

I’ve only recently learned You’re My Rainbow from my colleague Kelly, and I patterned most of my felt story on hers (which she in turn received from another children’s librarian [thanks Tess!]). The pie and rainbow are the exceptions, based on Open Clipart images.

Love Me Tender is by Elvis Presley and Ken Darby (who is sometimes credited as Vera Matson), and I’ve found the chords in a number of different keys. C was the easiest for me this time, and although I’ve simplified it slightly it’s still a little trickier than most of the songs I post here due to the key change in the middle. If you don’t like that E7, you might want to try playing in F (as posted on Doctor Uke).


Love Me Tender
C                D7
Love me tender, love me sweet
G7           C
Never let me go
C                 D7
You have made my life complete
G7             C
and I love you so

E7              C
Love me tender love me true
F              C
All my dreams fulfilled
            D7
For my darling I love you
G7           C
And I always will


Rock Me Easy
C             D7
Rock me easy, rock me slow
G7                 C
Rock me where the robins go
                    D7
Rock the branch and rock the bough
G7             C
Rock the baby robins now
E7              C
Rock me up and rock me down
F               C
Rock me off to sleepy town
               D7
Rock me gently up the stairs
   G7              C
To snuggle with my teddy bears
               D7
Rock me easy, rock me slow
G7                C
Rock me where the robins go

You’re My Rainbow
C                  D7
You’re my rainbow, you’re my star
G7                    C
You’re my bright red cookie jar
                     D7
You’re my goldfish, you’re my pie
G7                C
You’re the apple of my eye

E7                  C
You’re my rainbow, you’re my star
F                     C
You’re my bright red cookie jar
                  D7
You’re my daisy, you’re my vine
G7                  C
You’re my own true Valentine



This is the third in a series of love-the-littles songs.

Little Panda Bear

This song has been hugely popular at a couple of my colleagues’ baby and toddler programs, and I sing it at home with my own little dude. It’s from Kimya Dawson’s 2007 album Alphabutt, which is full of fantastic, ridiculous, silly, lovely songs, plus the best pregnancy song I’ve every heard. Make sure your library owns it!

At storytime, we sing it a little slower than the original (which you can hear a live version of here), and optionally replace “little panda bear” with “little _______(child’s name) bear.”


Little Panda Bear
C
You are my little panda bear, little panda bear
       G7
I love you, yes I do
             F
And all the funny things you do
       C
I love you, yes I do

C
You are my little panda bear, panda bears are rare
          G7
Yes it's true, there's only a few
                F
And there's no other one like you
        C
I love you, yes I do



This is the second in a series of love-the-littles songs.

Love You Forever

I’m settling into this new year with a celebration of love for all our little ones. The next six weeks I’ll be posting a series of lovey storytime songs.

To begin, here’s a song you might not even know has a tune. It comes from Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever. This is not a book I’m likely to read at storytime as it’s too long for my demographic, the pictures are too small for my busy programs, and I’d probably cry. But next time I lead a Babytime session, I’m going to try singing the song from the book.

If you don’t know how it sounds, listen to the author singing it during this interview. Or if you sing it in your own unique way, send me a recording and I’ll try to fumble out a few chords for you.


Love You Forever
C                G7
I'll love you forever
                  C
I'll like you for always
                G7
As long as I'm living
               C
My baby you'll be



This is the first in a series of love-the-littles songs.