Favorite Children’s Books for Vocal Exploration and Pitch-Matching Activities

Vocal Exploration

Neelly (2002) explains that vocal exploration is essential to the development of speaking and singing. Vocal exploration can be defined as vocalizing pitch ranges with the purpose of coordinating articulation (i.e., lips, teeth, tongue), inhalation/exhalation, and phonation (vibration of the vocal chords). Successfully coordinating these mechanisms—manipulating the lips, teeth, and tongue on the breath to make sounds—contributes to expressive speaking and singing. Reading teachers use vocal exploration as a pathway to phonological awareness and pronunciation of phonemes (single units of spoken words); music teachers use it to promote pitch awareness and aid in the development of healthy singing voices.

There are a variety of ways to help children find their singing voices through exploring sounds such as imitating animal sounds or sirens or playing echo games. Phonating using vowel sounds such as “ee” or “oo” embedded in a shared-book experience make this type of learning activity playful for children. Fajerman (2002) and Laden’s (2000) children’s books provide just such a musical and playful activity that integrates language and music learning.

How to Speak Moo! by Deborah Fajerman (2002) is a delightful expository about the language of cows. Fajerman declaims that “every single word is moo,” but think again if you believe that every “moo” sounds the same! Each page spread explores how sounds can be different. Readers experience music concepts of loud and soft, high and low, melodic contour, articulation (i.e., “wobbly” and “smooth” sounds), and timbre (i.e., “through a funnel” and “in a tunnel”). When sharing the book with young children, music teachers have the opportunity to model a wide range of sounds. Teachers will also find ample occasions for children to make the many sounds suggested. I recommend lingering on a page or two with invitations to children to explore the sounds suggested in the book.

One favorite page with children has been directing them to make high- and low-pitched “moo” sounds. The page illustrates two cows—one large and one small with text that matches in size. The text reads, “Moo depends a lot on size. Big cows do lows, and little ones, highs.” I begin with a prompt, “Let’s make high and low moos.” Then I point to the large cow and then the small cow. In this manner I create patterns to explore form and duration of long and short sounds. Children delight in discovering the patterns. We revisit that page on another day with individual children as the directors.

Another favorite page is an image of a cow in a rowboat “which makes its moo sound as sweet as a song.” Sometimes, I will sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” using the syllable “moo” and watch their eyes smile with familiarity. After which we sing the song together on “moo” and then on words if they request it or if time allows. With older children, I prompt them to connect what they see to prior knowledge by asking them if the picture reminds them of a song they know. Some children respond by singing the song for the rest of the class. In this manner, the prompt seamlessly creates a reason for children to sing solo in a safe environment without performance pressure. Sometimes children become self-conscious as they realize they are singing alone, at which time, I usually join them softly or ask them if they would like others to sing along. In some sessions we make a list, or we might sing the songs together as they identify them. Other songs children have suggested include “Lightly Row,” “Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore,” and “Canoe Song.”

A second favorite children’s book for integrating vocal exploration is Peek-a-Who? by Nina Laden (2000). This board book invites children to guess what is hiding on the next page with the prompt “Peek a . . .” with an image suggesting who or what is hiding. When they turn the page, the children enjoy discovering who or what is hiding: owl, cow, ghost, train, and mirror. They encounter five rhyming words that correspond with the hidden figure—who, moo, boo, zoo, choo-choo, and you. In music classes that included free musical play with parents and children, this book became a favorite in free musical play centers.

Although, most young children are not yet ready for reading and producing music sounds from standard music notation, they can read icons and practice pre–music reading skills such as reading pictures from left to right and organizing and writing sounds using pictures. By using three or four of the sounds (i.e., who, moo, boo, choo-choo) as represented by the pictures in the book, we created a music game of reading the pictures to make patterns of sounds. Children make the corresponding sounds using teacher-created cards with an image of a cow, an owl, a ghost, and train cars. See Figure 2 for pictures inspired by the book. Point to the sound or show one card at a time. Engage the children in a composition activity by making several copies of each image and then have them “write” a “Peek-a Who?” song. Then invite them to perform the song for others or have the group perform each composition.

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Figure 2.

Art by Audrey Cardany for pre–music reading and composition activities.

Melodic Patterns and Pitch-Matching

Research in children’s singing development indicates that young children progress from free exploration of sounds to exploring melodic phrases and eventually singing whole songs (Atterbury, 1984; Gardner, 1982) Singing development is a complex task for children. With that complexity in mind, Leighton and Lamont (2006) suggest practice with pitch patterns to improve children’s listening and voice production skills. Incorporating pitch patterns (especially those patterns found in songs) may prepare children for success in singing complex songs. Bennett (2005) recommends teaching songs holistically through a melodic-figure approach in which figural groupings of “melody chunks” within songs are highlighted within a whole-song context. This “songwise” approach treats songs as a whole and avoids unnecessarily segmenting the song.

Using the shared-book experience may provide a similar holistic approach by inserting a melodic chunk as part of reading a story, and it may provide some of the practice of patterns Leighton and Lamont (2006) suggest. Opportunities for children to sing common melodic patterns found in songs repeatedly throughout a story seem to align with what we know about how children’s singing voices develop. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? by Martin and Carle (1992) and the story of the wide-mouthed frog are top picks for integrating language and pitch patterns in this holistic manner.

Martin and Carle’s book (1992) has long been a staple for reading teachers in early literacy programs as well as for music teachers in general music classrooms. When using it in a music setting, I use a simple sol, mi, and la melody repeatedly for each question and answer (see Figure 3). I sing the question and model the sung answer with nonverbal prompts (e.g., facial expression and hand gestures) for the children to sing the answer with me until they sing answers without assistance. A presentation of this activity in workshops with a focus of music and children’s literature is likely familiar to many music teachers.

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Figure 3.

Suggested melody for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

A favorite extension activity using puppets or stuffed animals provides children with practice of the pitch-set of la, sol, and mi. Here are two of the many variations of using puppets as an extension activity of the shared-book experience:

The second favorite story for providing opportunities to sing melodic patterns is the story of the wide-mouthed frog. This story is based on a classic joke—the wide-mouth frog brags about what he eats to each animal he meets. When the frog asks an alligator what he eats, the alligator replies, “I eat wide-mouthed frogs.” The frog then quickly makes his mouth small and exclaims, “Oh, you don’t see many of those around do you?” With several illustrations of the story available, my favorites are The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Ela Jarzabek and Oakley Graham (2010) and Faulkner and Lambert’s (1996) publication with the same title. Both books use a “pop-up” feature that adds to the drama of the story, and the same wide-mouthed frog declaration, “I’m a wide-mouthed frog, and I eat flies.” Jarzabek and Graham’s (2010) retelling of the story precedes the declaration with the word “well.” Instead of two animals presented in Falkner and Lambert’s version, Jarzabek and Graham’s version uses five animals, which extends the duration of the activity and provides more repetition for singing the melodic pattern.

Like Brown Bear, Brown, What Do You See? the repetitive text makes it perfect for singing a melodic pattern each time it occurs in the story. The frog’s bragging can be sung easily using the pitches sol, mi, and la. Singing these pitches in the manner of a typical taunting chant of “nah nah nah nah nah nah” also fits the bragging nature of the frog. See Figure 4 for a suggested melody for Jarzabek and Graham’s retelling of the story. The glissando from do to sol provides an enjoyable invitation for the children to join in singing the melodic figure and sets do as the pattern’s tonal center.

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Figure 4.

Suggested melody for “I’m a Wide-Mouthed Frog.”

Closing Thoughts

I feel confident that many music and reading teachers will enjoy sharing these books with early readers in ways that foster their singing development through vocal exploration and singing repeated melodic patterns. Music teachers who wish to avoid teaching vocal exploration or pitch patterns in isolation will find that integrating reading and music provides a meaningful context for children; the books provide the “child reason” to make “funny” sounds and sing a melodic pattern repeatedly. Reading these books with children once is rarely satisfactory for a group, and sometimes a single page can inspire an entire music activity. Extension activities shared here provide children with opportunities to create, notate, and read icons using sounds to help explore high and low pitches for developing voices. These authors and illustrators’ collective creativity spark rich musical experiences that bring music concepts to life with joy and whimsy. Without fail these picture books and their related musical activities have elicited delightful responses from children and have made them child and teacher favorites.