In this enchanting and comprehensive collection, the lullabies we all were rocked to sleep with, such as “Rock-a-Bye Baby” and “Hush Little Baby, Don’t You Cry,” mingle with traditional lullabies from around the world. Here are beautiful lyrics to sing or read to little ones, from Shakespeare’s lullaby for the fairy queen, Titania, to Brahms’s “Lullaby”; and from Gershwin’s “Summertime” to Langston Hughes’s lovely lullaby for a “night black baby.” Here, too, are poems for children that range from tender to nonsensical, from quiet to raucous–from Walter de la Mare to T. S. Eliot to Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and Ogden Nash.
Whether the intent is to soothe or to amuse, there’s something here for every mood, every child, and the child in every adult. A delightful, gift-perfect collection.
An enchanting assortment of nighttime poetry for children combines traditional lullabies from around the world with other favorites by Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Walter de la Mare, T. S. Eliot, Lewis Carrol, Edward Lear, and Ogden Nash.
| Foreword | 13 | |
| Golden Slumbers | 19 | |
| Sleep, Little One | 20 | |
| Cradle Song | 21 | |
| Lullaby, Oh, Lullaby | 22 | |
| Lie A-Bed | 23 | |
| Oh Hush Thee, My Dove (Traditional) | 24 | |
| Sleep, Baby, Sleep (Traditional) | 25 | |
| Toora, Loora, Loora (Traditional Irish) | 26 | |
| Sleep, Baby Sleep (Traditional German) | 27 | |
| Slumber Time Is Drawing Near (Traditional Swedish) | 28 | |
| Sleep My Baby (Traditional Nigerian) | 29 | |
| Rockaby Baby (Traditional Spanish) | 30 | |
| Senora Santa Ana (Traditional Mexican) | 31 | |
| Bye-O, Bye-O, Bye-O Baby (Traditional) | 32 | |
| Hush, My Little Bird (Traditional) | 33 | |
| Lully, Lulla | 37 | |
| A Rocking Hymn | 38 | |
| Cradle Hymn | 40 | |
| Brahms's Lullaby | 42 | |
| All Through the Night | 44 | |
| When At Night I Go To Sleep | 45 | |
| Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Traditional) | 46 | |
| Angels Watching Over Me (American Spiritual) | 47 | |
| Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (American Spiritual) | 48 | |
| Kumbayah (Traditional West Indian) | 49 | |
| Wynken, Blynken, and Nod | 53 | |
| My Bed Is a Boat | 55 | |
| The White Seal's Lullaby | 56 | |
| Baby's Bed's Silver Moon (Traditional) | 57 | |
| The Land of Nod | 58 | |
| Lullaby of an Infant Chief | 61 | |
| Rock-a-bye, Baby (Traditional English) | 62 | |
| All the Pretty Little Horses (Traditional American (Southern)) | 63 | |
| Cherries Are Ripe (Traditional English) | 64 | |
| Baiouski Baiou (Traditional Russian) | 65 | |
| Raisins and Almonds (Traditional Yiddish) | 66 | |
| Yoruba Lullaby (Traditional Yoruba People, Africa) | 67 | |
| O Sweetly Does My Baby Sleep (Traditional Greek) | 68 | |
| Fais Dodo (Traditional French) | 69 | |
| Little Baby Sweetly Sleep (Traditional) | 70 | |
| Your Brother Has a Falcon | 71 | |
| Armenian Lullaby | 72 | |
| Summertime | 74 | |
| Poem for a Birthday | 75 | |
| from Night | 79 | |
| Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star | 80 | |
| Day Is Done (Traditional) | 82 | |
| The Cottager To Her Infant | 83 | |
| Now the Day Is Over | 84 | |
| Autumn Lullaby (Traditional) | 86 | |
| The Evening Is Coming (Traditional) | 87 | |
| Little Red Bird (Traditional Manx) | 88 | |
| Now Sleep Little Baby (Traditional El Salvadoran) | 90 | |
| The Fairies Sing Titania To Sleep | 93 | |
| Ariel's Song | 94 | |
| The Sandman | 95 | |
| Monday's Child (Traditional English) | 96 | |
| Bed Is Too Small (Traditional) | 97 | |
| Hush-a-Bye My Baby (Traditional South American) | 98 | |
| Against Dark's Harm | 99 | |
| Mary's Lamb | 103 | |
| Minnie and Winnie | 104 | |
| Little Boy Blue (Traditional English) | 105 | |
| Oh, Mother, How Pretty the Moon Is Tonight (Traditional) | 106 | |
| I Gave My Love a Cherry (Traditional) | 107 | |
| Lavender's Blue (Traditional English) | 108 | |
| Oranges and Lemons (Traditional English) | 110 | |
| Shady Grove, My Little Love (Traditional) | 111 | |
| The Cambric Shirt (Traditional English) | 112 | |
| The Skye Boat Song | 114 | |
| Oh, My Darling Clementine (Traditional American) | 116 | |
| The Big Rock Candy Mountains: Traditional American | 118 | |
| The Baby's Dance | 121 | |
| Mother and Child | 122 | |
| Crying, My Little One | 123 | |
| Mother's Song (Traditional) | 124 | |
| Mammy, Mammy Told Me-O (Traditional) | 125 | |
| Way Up High In the Cherry Tree (Traditional) | 126 | |
| I've Found My Bonny Babe a Nest (Traditional Irish) | 127 | |
| The Gartan Mother's Lullaby | 128 | |
| Can Ye Sew Cushions? (Traditional Scottish) | 129 | |
| Suo-Gan (Traditional Welsh) | 130 | |
| Bye You, Bye You (Traditional Russian) | 131 | |
| Hopi Lullaby (Traditional Hopi Indian) | 132 | |
| Akan Lullaby (Traditional, Akan People, Africa) | 133 | |
| Lullaby (For a Black Mother) | 134 | |
| Lullaby for a Daughter | 136 | |
| Sweet and Low | 139 | |
| Bye, Baby Bunting (Traditional English) | 140 | |
| Hush, My Baby, Don't You Cry (Traditional) | 141 | |
| Hush, Little Baby, Don't Say a Word (Traditional American (Southern)) | 142 | |
| Ally Bally (Traditional) | 143 | |
| Welsh Lullaby (Traditional Welsh) | 144 | |
| Dance to Your Daddy (Traditional Scottish) | 146 | |
| Song To Be Sung By the Father of Infant Female Children | 147 | |
| Baby Song | 153 | |
| Morning Song | 154 | |
| Woman to Child | 155 | |
| To a Ten Months' Child | 156 | |
| At Birth | 157 | |
| Now That I Am Forever With Child | 158 | |
| To Bed | 163 | |
| Hey! Diddle, Diddle | 163 | |
| Sing a Song of Sixpence | 164 | |
| Comical Folk | 165 | |
| The Crooked Song | 166 | |
| The Man in the Wilderness | 167 | |
| Self-Portrait of Edward Lear | 168 | |
| The Table and the Chair | 170 | |
| If a Pig Wore a Wig | 172 | |
| Growing in the Vale | 173 | |
| You Are Old, Father William | 174 | |
| Jabberwocky | 176 | |
| The Mock Turtle's Song | 178 | |
| Craquedoom | 180 | |
| Eletelephony | 181 | |
| Song of the Mad Prince | 182 | |
| Ode to a Baby | 183 | |
| Good King Arthur | 187 | |
| The Queen of Hearts | 188 | |
| Wee Willie Winkie | 189 | |
| Little Bo-Peep | 190 | |
| An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog | 191 | |
| The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog | 193 | |
| The Owl and the Pussy-Cat | 196 | |
| A Tragic Story | 198 | |
| Where Did You Come From, Baby Dear? | 200 | |
| Mother Shake the Cherry-Tree | 202 | |
| The Walrus and the Carpenter | 203 | |
| Bed in Summer | 208 | |
| My Shadow | 209 | |
| The Tale of Custard the Dragon | 210 | |
| I Saw a Ship A-Sailing | 215 | |
| King Pippin's Hall | 216 | |
| If | 216 | |
| Laughing Song | 217 | |
| The Splendour Falls on Castle Walls | 218 | |
| The Sugar-Plum Tree | 219 | |
| Young Night Thought | 221 | |
| The Land of Counterpane | 222 | |
| Bat, Bat | 225 | |
| Bow-Wow, Says the Dog | 226 | |
| The Quarrelsome Kittens | 227 | |
| To Market | 228 | |
| Dickery, Dickery, Dare | 228 | |
| A Guinea-Pig Song | 229 | |
| Spring | 230 | |
| The Tyger | 232 | |
| The Lamb | 234 | |
| Answer to a Child's Question | 235 | |
| How Doth the Little Crocodile | 236 | |
| Bee! I'm Expecting You! | 237 | |
| The Frog | 238 | |
| The Naming of Cats | 239 | |
| The Song of the Jellicles | 241 | |
| The Opossum's Dream | 243 | |
| Acknowledgments | 247 | |
| Index of First Lines | 251 |
Overview
In this enchanting and comprehensive collection, the lullabies we all were rocked to sleep with, such as “Rock-a-Bye Baby” and “Hush Little Baby, Don’t You Cry,” mingle with traditional lullabies from around the world. Here are beautiful lyrics to sing or read to little ones, from Shakespeare’s lullaby for the fairy queen, Titania, to Brahms’s “Lullaby”; and from Gershwin’s “Summertime” to Langston Hughes’s lovely lullaby for a “night black baby.” Here, too, are poems for children that range from tender to ...