Quick Songs to Help Teach the Jobs of Author and Illustrator

One of the concepts I want students to understand is the jobs of the author and illustrator. There are a few reasons behind this:

• Learning the jobs helps children identify and relate to the real people behind books.

• As we read and explore together and I talk about specific authors and illustrators, it's important they understand what these folks are doing.

• They should understand the difference between the jobs.

• I want them to understand what I mean when I refer to them as authors and illustrators during the day.

Many years ago, I worked with a lovely kindergarten teacher who taught me these songs. I'm not sure if she made them up or learned them from someone else. In any event, here they are:

Author Song (sung to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell)

The author writes the words

The author writes the words

Every time you read a book

The author writes the words

Illustrator Song (sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

Illustrator draws the pictures

Every time you read a book

Once we've sung these songs many times, when I ask what the author or illustrator does, if students can't remember, I can simply start the singing the first few words of the tune and they complete it.

Below, is a short video of me singing both songs. I find it's helpful to hear them before teaching them to students.

I hope this is helpful for you and your students. Please leave a comment below if you found it useful.