The ''Children's Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' is the official

songbook A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manu ...

for children in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). It was first published in English in 1989. These

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s are for the

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

, which is an organization in the LDS Church for children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years old, who learn about the teachings of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The ''Children's Songbook'' replaced ''Sing with Me'', which was published in 1969. The songs in the ''Songbook'' help young

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

learn to live righteously and keep

God's In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

commandments. The book is simplified in comparison to the LDS Hymn Book. The songs are designed to be easy for children to learn. The contents are divided so that different sections refer to various

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

topics for children. Some of the topics include

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

, reverence, gratitude, Jesus' mission, the importance of

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

and the home, love for God, the good feelings you can get when you live righteously, as well as a few activity songs and some songs on the beauty of

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

. There is also some prelude music for playing before

Sacrament meeting Sacrament meeting is the weekly worship service held on Sunday in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Sacrament meetings are held in individual wards or branches in the chapel of the meetinghouse. The bishop or branch ...

s or in the home. Although the songs are intended primarily for children, adults in the LDS Church also utilize songs in the book for other purposes. The

Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for ov ...

has sung several of these songs from time to time in their weekly Sunday broadcast of ''

Music and the Spoken Word Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect o ...

''. Some of the songs that appear in the ''Songbook'' also appear in the church's hymnal. Most songs that appear in either book can be sung in

sacrament meeting Sacrament meeting is the weekly worship service held on Sunday in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Sacrament meetings are held in individual wards or branches in the chapel of the meetinghouse. The bishop or branch ...

as part of a musical program or musical number after the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

is delivered. There are some songs that also have been written for use in sacrament meeting that don't appear in either book, but are approved for use. One of the songs has

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

(ASL) pictures that teaches how to use sign language for the words of the song. Additionally, the LDS Church's website contains ASL videos for about 45 songs from the ''Children's Songbook''. There are 268 songs in the songbook. A few new Primary songs have been adopted by the LDS Church since ''Children's Songbook'' was published. Children in Primary sing the new songs, but a revised ''Songbook'' has not been published. Two new songs have been written in 2008 and 2009. Their

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

reinforce the roles that fathers and mothers play, and teaches that children can also contribute to the family and grow up and become fathers and mothers. On June 18, 2018, the church announced revisions the hymnbook and the ''Children's Songbook'' in an effort to reflect the needs of church members around the world. The new children’s songbook will offer the same hymns and songs in all languages.Noyce, David and Stack, Peggy Fletcher
"LDS Church creating new hymnbooks for Mormon adults children around the world"
''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'', 18 June 2018. Retrieved on 17 March 2020.

References

External links

''Children's Songbook''
at churchofjesuschrist.org (includes index, text, music and free audio downloads)
''Children's Songbook - American Sign Language (ASL)''
at churchofjesuschrist.org (includes 47 free videos for download, each containing one song being signed in ASL) {{Authority control Children's music Latter Day Saint hymnals Primary (LDS Church) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints texts 1989 books 1989 in Christianity 1989 in music Religious works for children

See also

References

External links