Lyrics & credits
Little Songbook gathers traditional children's songs from around the world. Each song is credited to its author where one is known, and to the tradition it belongs to where it is not.
Last updated 24 July 2026
How songs are credited
Every song page names the country and language it comes from, and the author where one is recorded. Many of these songs are old and anonymous folk material shaped over generations; others have a known writer, and we name them. Where a song exists in many regional versions, the one shown is simply the version we transcribed, not a definitive edition.
The original writing on this site
The English translations, the origin essays, the singing instructions and the questions and answers are written specifically for this site. Please do not republish them wholesale — a short quotation with a link back is always welcome.
Corrections and removals
If a credit is wrong, a translation is off, or you hold rights in something published here and would like it corrected or taken down, pleaseget in touch with the song and the details. Anything genuinely in question is removed while it is looked into, not after.
Videos
Nothing plays inside this site. Links to YouTube open a search on YouTube in a new tab, where YouTube's own terms and the rights of the uploader apply.