Little Arabella Miller

Last updated

"Little Arabella Miller" is a nursery rhyme and action song of unknown origin sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

Contents

Origin

While the exact origin of Little Arabella Miller is unknown, a woman named Ann Eliott has been previously cited as a composer. [1] [2] The song dates to at least 1971, as its mentioned in "Games for the Very Young: Finger Plays and Nursery Games" by Elizabeth Mary Matterson. [3] It's later mentioned in "Finger Plays and Action Verses for Children" (1977) by Dorothy Pinsky. [4]

Lyrics

The rhyme has just one verse but there are several variants which focus on the description of the caterpillar (furry, fuzzy, woolly), and on the family members mentioned in the rhyme (mother, brother, baby brother).

Little Arabella Miller
Found a furry caterpillar
First it climbed upon her mother
Then upon her baby brother
"Ugh" said Arabella Miller
"Take away that caterpillar!"

Alternative version:

Little Arabella Miller
Had a fuzzy caterpillar.
First it climbed upon her mother,
Then upon her baby brother.
They said, " Arabella Miller,
Put away your caterpillar!"

Actions

Little Arabella Miller
Found a wooly caterpillar (wiggle one finger)
First it crawled upon her mother (tickle mom)
Then upon her baby brother (tickle a friend)
Take away that caterpillar!" (shake finger) [5]

References

  1. ↑ Bugs Bugs Bugs! Resource Kit (PDF). Museum Victoria. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2008.
  2. ↑ "Play School". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 13 February 2023. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006.
  3. ↑ Elizabeth Mary Matterson (1971). Games for the Very Young: Finger Plays and Nursery Games. American Heritage Press. p. 165. ISBN   978-0-07-040941-5.
  4. ↑ Dorothy Pinsky (1977). Finger Plays and Action Verses for Children. Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University. p. 16.
  5. ↑ "Perry Public Library Storytime: From Caterpillar to Butterfly". Perry Public Library. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.