If a book rhymes, you can put it to music.

Even if it DOESN’T rhyme, you can generally put it to music if you get creative enough.

That being said, here are some of my favorite books to use in music therapy!

“There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a ….” These books are great. Very cheesy, very silly, but my kiddos love answering questions about them! There’s a whole series – 16 books, most of which are in seasonal order in this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzBZM7vM3h1AnuD7jjL9YGsl8jYTh6wE8

You can either play the videos as-is, or take screen shots of the pages to put in Google Slides and make your own “book” to use in-person or through the Share Screen with a virtual kid. You can do this with ANY book uploaded to YouTube, so do a quick search before you buy a book! I also insert slides with “wh” questions, sequencing options, math questions, etc. into the “book” to work on various goals.

Here are some more online books I’ve found (obviously not a comprehensive list, so let me know if there are others you enjoy using!): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzBZM7vM3h1DY2J_g_gkPjGY_5tK1Lx89

And here are several books I love using with clients and links to purchase them (and if I couldn’t find it on Amazon, I tried to put it in the YouTube playlists above):

All-Purpose:

• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
• Music Is by Brandon Stosuy
• Home by Carson Ellis
• My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
• The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See by Eric Carle
• Animals Animals by Eric Carle
• This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt
• From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (available bilingually and as a board game too!)
• The Tickle Monster by Jodie Bissett (kit including fuzzy gloves here or just the book here)
• The Boogie Monster by Jodie Bissett (kit including fuzzy leggings here or just the book here)
• Today I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis
• I’m Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis
• This is Me by Jamie Lee Curtis
• I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont
• Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin (check out her other books as well, although this is the only one I have)
• Heads by Matthew Van Fleet (if you can splurge, get the hardcover pop-up book. It has AMAZING textures and effects!)
• Tails by Matthew Van Fleet (same recommendation as above)
• Chomp Goes the Alligator by Matthew Van Fleet (again, splurge for the effects!)
• Kids Go! by They Might Be Giants
• 10 Little Hermit Crabs by Lee Fox & Shane McG
• Alexander It’s Time for Bed by Alex Lluch
• Barnyard Slam by Dian Curtis Regan
• Animalia by Graeme Base
• Pete the Cat: I Love My Shoes by James Dean (the whole series is adorable)
• Space Walk by Salina Yoon
• Tick Tock Sharks by Elizabeth Mills (movable clock on the cover)
• Bayou Ballet by Alexis Braud
• 88 Instruments by Chris Barton
• Welcome to the Symphony by Carolyn Sloan
• Do Not Lick This Book by Iran Ben-Barak and Julian Frost
• A, B, Sea: A Deep Sea Symphony by Dianna Bonder

Seasonal:

• Deck the Halls by Norman Rockwell
• You’re a Grand Old Flag by Norman Rockwell
• The Turkey Ball by D.J. Steinberg
• Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner (the whole Snowmen series looks great but this is the only one I currently have, and I purchased the pop-up version, which is slightly abbreviated but tons of fun!)
• Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear by Eric Carle
• T is for Texas by Trish Madson
• To Everything There is a Season by Leo & Diana Dillon
• America the Beautiful: Together We Stand by Katharine Lee Bates
• And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

This is by no means a comprehensive list! Leave your favorite books (and a link to purchase them) in the comments of this post! And if you have questions about any of these before buying, don’t hesitate to ask!

❤ Kelsey