Books in Brief: I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song

I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song: A Parents’ Guide to Fairy Tales, Fables, Songs, and Rhymes of Childhood, by Christine Allison (Delacorte, 240 pp., $15.95)

When people who like to read become parents, they anticipate happy evenings round the fireplace rereading childhood favorites and discovering books they unaccountably missed or were born too late for. Christine Allison, though clearly a wide-ranging and enthusiastic reader of children’s fare, reminds other young parents that there is a tradition older than that of the printed word—the oral tradition. I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song is meant to be read by parents, but not to children. Mrs. Allison collects many of the most popular fairy tales, songs, and rhymes, and uses them to teach book readers and TV watchers how—and when—to tell a story or sing a song. Her book begins with fairy tales—short, simple versions of the Grimm brothers, Perrault, and Hans Christian Andersen. Scattered among these are pages of advice on storytelling, with headings like “How to Light a Story,” “Ten Steps to a Well-Told Tale,” “The Pregnant Pause and Other Tricks of the Teller’s Tale.” The advice is kind, uncondescending, and easy to act upon. In my own experience and that of other mothers I know, nursery rhymes are easiest to learn and to recite spontaneously, without embarrassment. Songs—especially “serious” lullabies—seem hardest to pull off, perhaps because most people are self-conscious about their singing voices. But readers should let themselves be lured into the music section of Mrs. Allison’s book, with its interesting asides on musical milestones in a young child’s development and a wellresearched list of best children’s records. I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song is a lovely browsing book meant to draw the reader, at least occasionally, beyond books to the spoken word.

EF

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Ellen Wilson Fielding

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I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song: A Parents’ Guide to Fairy Tales, Fables, Songs, and Rhymes of Childhood, by Christine Allison (Delacorte, 240 pp., $15.95)

When people who like to read become parents, they anticipate happy evenings round the fireplace rereading childhood favorites and discovering books they unaccountably missed or were born too late for. Christine Allison, though clearly a wide-ranging and enthusiastic reader of children’s fare, reminds other young parents that there is a tradition older than that of the printed word—the oral tradition. I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song is meant to be read by parents, but not to children. Mrs. Allison collects many of the most popular fairy tales, songs, and rhymes, and uses them to teach book readers and TV watchers how—and when—to tell a story or sing a song. Her book begins with fairy tales—short, simple versions of the Grimm brothers, Perrault, and Hans Christian Andersen. Scattered among these are pages of advice on storytelling, with headings like “How to Light a Story,” “Ten Steps to a Well-Told Tale,” “The Pregnant Pause and Other Tricks of the Teller’s Tale.” The advice is kind, uncondescending, and easy to act upon. In my own experience and that of other mothers I know, nursery rhymes are easiest to learn and to recite spontaneously, without embarrassment. Songs—especially “serious” lullabies—seem hardest to pull off, perhaps because most people are self-conscious about their singing voices. But readers should let themselves be lured into the music section of Mrs. Allison’s book, with its interesting asides on musical milestones in a young child’s development and a wellresearched list of best children’s records. I’ll Tell You a Story, I’ll Sing You a Song is a lovely browsing book meant to draw the reader, at least occasionally, beyond books to the spoken word.