June is a delightful time of year. It’s also the time when lots of wonderful insects come out to play! Young children are fascinated by all kinds of insects (and spiders) and love to read and sing about them!
My very favorite book about an insect is “The Very Quiet Cricket.” Of course it’s filled with gorgeous Eric Carle illustrations, but the text also has a (very quiet) charm.
As the cricket meets an older cricket and other colorful bugs, they greet him with their own distinctive sounds. But when the little cricket rubs his wings together to reply, “nothing happened. Not a sound.”
I ask my students to help me make the various sounds of the insects. When it’s time to be the cricket, we rub our palms together. (Since this does produce a tiny noise, I change the wording in the book to “it hardly made a sound.”)
The ending of the book holds a special surprise. The cricket meets a nice girl cricket and this time, (by electronic magic when the page is opened) he produces a lovely chirp! The children are always enchanted.
I love the musical possibilities of this story, as well as the portrayal of insects as beautiful and interesting creatures.
Music (and Science) For Young Children 