STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have an update now on a story we reported the other day. We told you about a study that confirmed that singing to babies can boost their health and happiness. We asked you, what do you croon to your little ones? And more than a thousand people responded. Thank you. Here are some of our favorites.
KELSEY WEBB: I'm Kelsey Webb (ph).
DEREK WEBB: And I'm Derek Webb (ph).
K WEBB: And our baby's name is Phoebe (ph). And we're from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
KELSEY WEBB AND DEREK WEBB: (Singing) W and X and Y and Z.
(SOUNDBITE OF BABY COOING)
K WEBB: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: Oh, perfect harmony. Their 1-year-old loves hearing the entire book of "Dr. Seuss's ABC."
D WEBB: The rhymes in that book just flow so well that it was easy to just make up a tune and sing that with her.
K WEBB: And it just made it more fun to sing and more fun to read to her, and she loves it.
D WEBB: She loves it, loves it, loves it.
(SOUNDBITE OF BABY COOING)
K WEBB: (Laughter).
D WEBB: Oh, "Dr. Seuss's ABC."
K WEBB: Yay.
INSKEEP: In Pinckney, Michigan, Tim Clairmont (ph) loves coming home to have a full-on jam session with his kids.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR PLAYING "SHE LOVES YOU")
TIM CLAIRMONT: (Singing) She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Music is a huge part of our lives. And every day, I sing and play guitar, and we have sing-alongs.
INSKEEP: OK, Tim and his wife, Mary (ph), have two kids - Dotty (ph), who is 4, and Stu (ph), who is 2.
CLAIRMONT: When I get home from work, Stu comes running up to the door holding his little guitar. And he keeps saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, which means that he wants to hear The Beatles' "She Loves You." So I run and get my guitar, and we have a sing-along.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR PLAYING "SHE LOVES YOU")
TIM CLAIRMONT AND UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Singing) With a love like that, you know you should be glad.
INSKEEP: (Singing) Should be glad.
Other parents sing the songs their parents sang to them, like Yuki Takabatake (ph) in Brooklyn, who was raised in the United States, far from where her family is now in Japan.
YUKI TAKABATAKE: This song is called "Amefuri."
(Singing in non-English language).
And "Amefuri" is a traditional Japanese folk song, and it's about a child that is caught in the rain and is joyfully met by their mom, who brings an umbrella.
INSKEEP: The songs she heard as a child keep traditions alive for her almost 2-year-old.
TAKABATAKE: Now, I'm not in any way a great singer, but singing these songs is a way for us to stay connected across all these different generations and across the ocean.
INSKEEP: Oh, gosh, and I feel connected to you guys. Thank you for sharing these bundles of joy.
(SOUNDBITE OF GO FRET'S "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS (INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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