Home » Articles on Demand » Letting It Go: Celebrating Improvisation in Children's Books




Letting It Go: Celebrating Improvisation in Children's Books

by Jean Dugan
November/December 2014
Access over 3,000 practical Exchange articles written by the top experts in the field through our online database. Join Today!

Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/letting-it-go-celebrating-improvisation-in-childrens-books/5022064/



Our favorite rendition of "Let It Go," the song of the year from the movie "Frozen," isn't the popular one by Idina Menzel or even the very clever version on YouTube with Jimmy Fallon on percussion. It's the Facebook video of our identical twin grand-nieces, Nola and Lucy, at the breakfast table, singing with every bit of their three-year-old hearts, as they giggle and throw their arms high in the air in delight, mirror images of each other. And the words they're not sure of? Well, they just make them up, with gusto. Why not?

That's what improvisation is, making it up as you go along, letting go of the rules — whether of necessity or just to try something new — often for the better.


Everybody knows how to "Pat a Cake," but why just a cake? There are many other familiar things in a ­toddler's landscape that can be ­patted, too. Why not pat a kiwi, or a fuzzy caterpillar? Or even a pudding or a puddle? What does that feel like? Is it soft? Is it sticky? Mary Bridget Barry's variations on the familiar rhyme in ...

Want to finish reading Letting It Go: Celebrating Improvisation in Children's Books?

You have access to 5 free articles.
or an account to access full article.