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Children's songs may be nursery rhymes set to music or modern creations intended for entertainment or use in the home or education.

Categories of Children's songs:

Cradle songs, Lullaby songs, Sounds of consolation, Animal songs, Myth songs, Balderdash songs, Birthday songs, Action songs, Songs for the world, and Songs to learn.

There are no written records of children's songs until the 17th century. "Three Blind Mice" dates from about 1600, as does "Oranges and Lemons". In 1697 Charles Perrault published "Tales of Mother Goose" in French. In the eighteenth century the songs "Little Bo Peep" and "London Bridge is Falling Down" were written. There are some songs which might be survivals from the middle ages - "Jack and Jill" and "Who Killed Cock Robin?" but this can only be speculation. On the other hand "Bobby Shafto" and "Yankee Doodle" can be tied to a specific social period.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" was written in the early nineteenth century. The great collectors of folk songs and fairy tales - Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) and the Brothers Grimm, also uncovered traditional children's songs. Halliwell published "Nursery Rhymes of England" in 1842 and "Popular Rhymes and Tales" in 1849. They are probably the two greatest collections of children's songs. Christmas carols are now the preserve of choirs and children, but were once sung by ordinary adults. Two notable nineteenth century collections were "Some Ancient Christmas Carols" by D Gilbert in 1822 and "Christmas Carols Old and New" by H Bramley in 1868. By the time of Sabine Baring-Gould's "A Book of Nursery Songs" (1895), folklore was an academic study, full of comments and foot-notes. A professional anthropologist, Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) produced "The Nursery Rhyme Book" in 1897.

The early years of the twentieth century are notable for the illustrations to children's books: Caldecott's Hey Diddle Diddle Picture Book (1909) and Arthur Rackham's Mother Goose (1913). A new item for the canon was "Teddy Bears' Picnic". The lyrics were written by Jimmy Kennedy in 1932 and the tune by British composer John William Bratton was from 1907. The Wizard of Oz (1939) generated several new perennials. As if to prove that children constantly adopt new songs, Iona and Peter Opie did some playground investigations, resulting in Lore and Language of Schoolchildren in 1960. Peggy Seeger made the best-known recordings of the classics with "American Folk Songs for Children" in 1955. In the latter half of the century, The Sherman Brothers collaboration with Walt Disney cartoons provided new children's favourites, especially from The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins. During the early 1990s, Bobby Susser began writing and producing the early collections of songs for his very popular, award winning series, Bobby Susser Songs For Children, that has educated and entertained young children through songs, in schools and at home.

• - Simon Mayor and Hilary James - Lullabies with Mandolins CD (2004) Children's Favourites from Acoustics (2005)
• - Mike and Peggy Seeger - American Folk Songs for Children (1955)
• - Isla St Clair - My Generation (2003)
• - Broadside Band - Old English Nursery Rhymes
• - Tim Hart and Friends - My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record (1981)
• - Bobby Susser - Wiggle Wiggle And Other Exercises (1996)

• English site with traditional and original songs for primary ages
• All sorts of Childrens Songs
• Childrens Songs and Nursery Rhymes Video and MP3 Karaoke, Backing Tracks
• Dutch children's songs with music and Engish translation