The joy of nursery rhymes: Twinkle, twinkle little bat
Posted: November 11, 2020 Filed under: Children's Books, Growing Bookworms, Literacy, Nursery Rhymes, Reading | Tags: Growing Bookworms, Literacy, Nursery Rhymes, Reading, Robbie Cheadle, Writing to be Read 56 Comments
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are”
Do you remember the words of this nursery rhyme? It has always been one of my favourites and the first one I remember hearing as a child. There was something about it that captured my imagination. Today, the words of this nursery rhyme are imprinted on my brain and remind me of the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio, one of my favourite childhood books.
When I was 9 years old, Alice in Wonderland was my favourite book [it still is a favourite and I have a number of different copies of it]. The words of Lewis Carroll’s adaption of Twinkle twinkle little star stayed with me and is still the version I think of first.
I had difficult babies. They were both real ‘howlers’. Gregory cried so much I gave all my baby stuff away when he was three months old and the promised reprieve from the endless crying didn’t happen. It turned out he was a ‘six-monther’. Terence had to work hard to convince me to have another baby and then Michael turned out to be a howler too. His health issues were even more challenging and he was in hospital numerous times during his first two years of life.
But, I digress … back to nursery rhymes. I used to recite nursery rhymes to my kids while I carried them around. They howled and I recited. It kept both of us sane.
Both of my sons have good vocabularies and literacy skills and both are musical. Reading up on the useful benefits of nursery rhymes for children, I think all the reciting I did may have helped enhance these skills.
The five major benefits of nursery rhymes are as follows:
They help develop language and literacy skills:
The help develop phonemic awareness – children hear the words said and learn to pronounce them. A lot of nursery rhymes include unusual and funny words and phrases.
Nursery rhymes help build word memory and articulation. They are full of rhyming words and include words and groups of sounds you don’t encounter in everyday speech.
Nursery rhymes help develop creativity in children by encouraging them to imagine the scene in their heads. Just think of this one:
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
BY EDWARD LEAR
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
II
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)
Finally, nursery rhymes teach children to listen, a very important life skill.
I am finishing off this post with a video of a recital of the poem Television by Roald Dahl. It is hilarious and epitomizes my thoughts about children and the modern trend of television and video/TV games.
About Robb,ie Cheadle
Hello, my name is Robbie, short for Roberta. I am an author with seven published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with my son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about my mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with my mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton). All of my children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications.
I have recently branched into adult and young adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differential my children’s books from my adult writing, I plan to publish these books under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. My first supernatural book published in that name, Through the Nethergate, is now available.
I have participated in a number of anthologies:
- Two short stories in Spellbound, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre;
- Two short stories in Spirits of the West, A Wordcrafter Western Paranormal Anthology edited by Kaye Lynne Booth;
- Two short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Dark Visions, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre;
- Three short stories in Death Among Us, an anthology of murder mystery stories, edited by Stephen Bentley;
- Three short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Nightmareland, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre; and
- Two short stories in Whispers of the Past, an anthology of paranormal stories, edited by Kaye Lynne Booth.
I also have a book of poetry called Open a new door, with fellow South African poet, Kim Blades.
Find Robbie Cheadle
Blog: https://bakeandwrite.co.za/
Blog: robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com
Twitter: BakeandWrite
Instagram: Robbie Cheadle – Instagram
Facebook: Sir Chocolate Books
Want to be sure not to miss any of Robbie’s “Growing Bookworms” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress.
Writing to be Read 
I’d never read about the benefits of nursery rhymes, but it makes sense. The reciting them to help keep you sane? I remember those days, lol. Great post, Robbie!
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Yes, my kids were such howlers, Teri. I read that reading rhyming poetry and nursery rhymes helps prevent dementia as people get older too.
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Interesting. I didn’t know that.
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A lovely post Robbie and a reminder how special nursery rhymes are for children and adults too when babies are unsettled, teething and just want to hear their mum’s voice.. thanks Kaye for hosting..xx
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Thanks Sally, for reading and commenting. Nursery rhymes are special. They create memories. I remember my grandmother laying down with me at nap time and reciting nursery rhymes with me, until I fell asleep. Sometimes we would take turns reciting. Nursery rhymes are fun. And if they carry the extra added benefits which Robbie speaks of, (and they do), then that just makes them more cherishable. 🙂
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HI Sally, thank you for visiting me here. It certainly seemed to sooth everyone (babies and mom) when I recited nursery rhymes or sang to my sons. I used to do it for hours. I love nursery rhymes and they sneak into all my books. I have a Tswana lullaby (not a nursery rhyme but similar) in A Ghost and His Gold.
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Nursery rhymes do have a fascinating (and often chilling) history, Robbie. Hugs on the wing.
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Hi Teagan, nursery rhymes do have chilling meanings. I am fascinated with there origins. At least one sneaks its way into all my books. Thanks for visiting. I hope your serial writing is going well.
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My dad had an ott version of twinkle twinkle, no idea where it came from…
Scintilate, scintilate globule vivivic
Fame would I fathom thy nature’s pacific
Airly poised in ether capacious
Strongly resembling a gem carbinacious!
I shall now go and google it
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Hi Geoff, that is very interesting. I will have to google it too. I am a big nursery rhyme fan and have a number of copies of different books. PS, I love your story for Wings and Fire.
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Thank you!!
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Reblogged this on Robbie's inspiration and commented:
I am over at Writing to be Read with a post about The joy of nursery rhymes, their benefits to small children and some of my favourites. I read recently that reading nursery rhymes and rhyming verse poems as an adult can help prevent dementia which I thought was quite interesting. Thank you, Kaye Lynne Booth, for hosting me.
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As always, an excellent post, Robbie. Thank you for being part of the Writing to be Read team and posting here. I commented on my own memories involving nursery rhymes. My own cranky baby was sung to, usually The Beatles. Don’t know if that is any better than nursery rhymes, but it seemed to do the trick. It was the only way I got any sleep.
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I love nursery rhymes too and read them to my children as well. Such a great way to teach vocabulary. I recall reciting them to my little brother who was colicky. The louder he cried the louder I shouted the rhymes. I have a book about the origins of some of them which is not always pleasant.
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I have a similar book about the origins of nursery rhymes, Darlene. I had a similar approach to you with the reciting – who can shout louder 😉
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What a lovely, inspiring post — and what a patient, loving, musical, and literary parent you were when you had small howling children! I am always happy and reassured when something we’ve been doing for centuries — such as reciting/singing nursery rhymes or eating locally-grown food — is demonstrated to be valuable and important. Thank you for sharing this information.
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My pleasure, I am glad you enjoyed this post. Nursery rhymes have always been a favourite of mine and I used to read them to my younger sisters.
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I love this article, Robbie – thank you for reminding us of just how wonderful nursery rhymes are. Toni x
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My pleasure, Toni. I am always delighted to share about literary things I enjoy.
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About to quote this on a post of my own tomorrow – inspiring and cheerful. Thank you!
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I am really pleased you enjoyed this, Jessica. I’ll look out for your post 😊
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Coming up when i can find at least one photo that goes with it!
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When I was little, I was particuarly taken by “The Owl and the Pussycat,” probably because it was a longer narrative. I was very fortunate to grow up without a television. To Roald Dahl’s point, I can’t tell you how many times my mother said to my brother and me, “You must learn to amuse yourself.”
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Your mother was wise, Liz.
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Yes, she was. Money was also a factor because my parents weren’t able to pay for cable just to be able to watch the idiot box. We lived in the White Mountains, and there was no network reception without cable. I’m still grateful for my parents for making that decision.
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Hi Liz, we also had very limited TV when I was young. TV was late coming to South Africa and when it did come the children’s shows were limited to 1 hour a day. The shows also alternated between English and Afrikaans although my sister and I did watch both. The rest of the time we played all sorts of imaginative games. I still remember a lot of them. The Owl and the Pussycat appealed to me because it was so nonsensical. Another lengthily favourite of mine is Puff the Magic Dragon.
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Imaginative games were just the best–although my little brother and I did tend to argue about who would get the choice character parts. 🙂
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I was always the leader, Liz, as I was older [and stronger]. I remember one day at school when I was six I made up a game with a witch and all the kids in my class joined in. We were playing on a small verandah around the corner from the main playground. Naturally, we didn’t here the bell and I remember the Sister coming to find us with a look of thunder on her face.
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That’s a great story!
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Wonderful article, Robbie. I do hope the parents of today share the joy of nursery rhymes with their children and grandchildren. As you pointed out, they are so beneficial to the developing brain.
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I know my sons will, Jill. People tend to repeat what they grew up with. I know nursery rhymes were popular among all my friends when our kids were small. Enid Blyton books were another great favourite.
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I read these so often, I only had to see where you were heading before the cadence returned to my brain. Contrary is a good word to learn.
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Hi Dan, contrary is a good word, and my mother was right, I am contrary. I like to do things my own way in life. I am glad you enjoyed the nursery rhymes. America has some of its own like Yankee Doodle [might be more of a song], that I learned from reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
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Very nice collection of nursery rhymes. I like Carroll’s bat version.
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I loved that version, Frank, and have remembered it my whole life.
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Thanks for reminding me of twinkle twinkle little bat. My house did not–still doesn’t–have a television. Of course now we have computers, but when my girls were young they and their friends always found plenty to do. (K)
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We had very limited TV when I was a girl, Kerfe. I’ve never been a TV person and have never watched TV. Interestingly enough, my husband and boys don’t watch TV either. The boys sometimes play TV games on the TV but it is rarely watched. I just haven’t time to squeeze TV in with my baking, art, writing and blogging.
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I agree–I have no idea where people find the time.
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Reading with kids is Fun-damental! 🙂 Perfect post for sharing, Robbie…
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Thank you, Bette. I agree it is. I used to read to mine long before they read to themselves and we loved nursery rhymes.
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Same here, Robbie. With two daughters, we read fairy tales and nursery rhymes every night together in my bed before I tucked them into theirs.
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The Owl and the Pussy-Cat reminds me of my grandmother.
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That is lovely, Tandy. I wonder what associative memories neglected children have?
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That’s such a sad thought!
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[…] Scrabbling for inspiration I see my blogger colleague (bloggeague?) Robbie Cheadle has a nice post on nursery rhymes where she quotes Lewis Carroll changing the words of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. […]
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I totally agree with you Robbie on the benefits of nursery rhymes for children. Those variations on rhymes are hilarious. 🙂
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Thank you, Debby. I am glad you enjoyed this article. I am a nursery rhyme fan.
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I can tell 🙂
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Not having grown up in an English speaking country I don’t have the experience of nursery rhymes (we had songs and stories, but that is a bit different). They would be great to teach English to young children as well. Great article, Robbie.
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Hi Olga, you are right and that is a great point. Nursery rhymes would help non-English first language children and adults learn the language.
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Took me right back to my childhood and gave the adult in me a warmer heart! ❤
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I am delighted to know that, Annette. I also love nursery rhymes.
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Great post Robbie. Nursery rhymes are so important. Years ago before memory sticks, we made CDs and DVDs with nursery rhymes to give our parents when they registered their children for Kindergarten. We could tell which parents played them and recited them with their children. There are so many benefits.
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Hi Carla, that sounds like a terrific idea. I used to make CD’s of songs I liked, but I never thought of doing it with nursery rhymes. My kids know all the nursery rhymes, they stick with you.
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My grandkids know many of them, but not all.
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