book bonanza: over in the meadow

Jul 13, 2011

I have long loved singing the song “Over In The Meadow” with my children. It has such a lovely melody, is great for learning about counting and animals, and you can add as many verses as your creativity allows. This week we checked out Ezra Jack Keats’ (of The Snowy Day fame) version and it is now on my “I love this book and must have it be part of my home library” list. The illustrations are soft and perfectly endearing. My two littlest have looked at it over and over and OVER.

If you don’t know the words to this old favorite, I will share them here so you can sing it with your children.

Over in the meadow
In the sand in the sun, lived an
Old mother turtle and her
Little turtle one.
“Dig,” said the mother,
“I dig,” said the one, and they
Dug all day in the sand in the sun.

Over in the meadow where the
Stream runs blue, lived an
Old mother fish and her
Little fishies two.
“Swim,” said the mother,
“We swim,” said the two, and they
Swam all day where the stream runs blue.

Over in the meadow in a hole in the tree,
Lived an old mother owl and her
Little owls three.
“Whoo,” said the mother,
“We whoo,” said the three, and they
Whooed all day in the hole in the tree.

Over in the meadow by the old barn door,
Lived an old mother rat and her
Little ratties four.
“Gnaw,” said the mother,
“We gnaw,” said the four, and they
Gnawed all day on by the old barn door.

Over in the meadow in a snug beehive,
Lived an old mother bee and her
Little bees five.
“Buzz,” said the mother,
“We buzz,” said the five, and they
Buzzed all day in the snug beehive.

Over in the meadow in a nest built of sticks,
Lived an old mother crow and her
Little crows six.
“Caw,” said the mother,
“We caw,” said the six, and they
Cawed all day in the nest built of sticks.

Over in the meadow where the grass grows so even,
Lived an old mother frog and her
Little froggies seven.
“Jump,” said the mother,
“We jump,” said the seven, and they
Jumped all day where the grass grows so even.

Over in the meadow by the old mossy gate,
Lived an old mother lizard and her
Little lizards eight.
“Bask,” said the mother,
“We bask,” said the eight, and they
Basked all day by the old mossy gate.

Over in the meadow by the old scotch pine,
Lived an old mother duck and her
Little duckies nine.
“Quack,” said the mother,
“We quack,” said the nine, and they
Quacked all day by the old scotch pine.

Over in the meadow in a cozy, wee den,
Lived an old mother beaver and her
Little beavers ten.
“Beave,” said the mother,
“We beave,” said the ten, and they
Beaved all day in their cozy, wee den.

There are numerous variations to these words and a few of these verses are even different than in Mr. Keats’ book, but this is the way I learned it and have always sung it. My guess is, I will be adopting Mr. Keats’ verses now that Fisher and Annes are in love with his book.