Pam Gittleman is a Multi-Award-Winning Author, Early Childhood Music Educator, and the Creator of Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®.
As an early childhood music educator for over 25 years, Pam has a strong passion for singing, rhyming, reading stories, and making music with preschoolers. She created Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®, a collection of updated nursery rhymes that are more relevant and kind than their predecessors, to empower families and educators with research-based tools to nurture social-emotional learning (SEL) and foster positive values in young children.
Pam’s journey began with the release of the Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times album, a collaboration with world-renowned children’s artists Raffi and Lindsay Munroe. Building on its success, she expanded into videos and books, creating engaging multimedia experiences for young learners. She then collaborated with the “Queen of Children’s Music”, Laurie Berkner, to release an EP of three additional rhymes. With millions of song streams, a growing YouTube channel, and numerous literary awards, Pam’s work continues to resonate with families and educators alike.
A former VP at Ogilvy and Mather with an MBA from Wharton, Pam transitioned to music education to pursue her passion for early childhood development. She later deepened her expertise at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, where she refined her mission to create equitable, accessible resources for all children. Aside from making music with kids, Pam loves dogs and dark chocolate. She lives in New York with her husband and cherishes time spent with her children, grandchildren and granddogs.
This one-on-one interview shares Pam’s background and experience writing Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®, Volume 1.
Tell us about Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®, Volume 1.
Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®, Volume 1 is designed to help raise kind kids, one rhyme at a time!
Volume 1 includes updated versions of eight traditional rhymes: Three Kind Mice, Ring Around Sweet Roses, Humpty Dumpty, Hey Little Diddle, Baa Baa Bright Sheep, Hickory Dickory Dock, London Rain Is Falling Down, and Jack and Jill.
Each rhyme is accompanied by research-based tools for parents and teachers that support social and emotional learning and language development. An emoji mood chart helps preschoolers identify and label emotions that they or the story characters are feeling. Each rhyme also has guiding questions designed to stimulate conversations that build cognitive and emotional intelligence. Additionally, the book includes QR codes that provide readers with direct access to hear each of the rhymes read aloud, as well as access to additional resources for supporting early childhood skill development.
What inspired you to write Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®, Volume 1?
As a preschool music teacher for 25 years, I noticed that my young students were increasingly unfamiliar with many nursery rhymes and songs. Turns out, millennial parents, teachers, and caregivers were avoiding traditional nursery rhymes because so many were dark, outdated and irrelevant:
Three Blind Mice get their tails cut off by a carving knife! Ouch!
Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall and can’t be put back together again. Bummer!
“Ring Around the Rosie” is reportedly about the circular rash on bodies infected with the plague. Posies were kept in pockets to mask the smell of the dead and the ashes that “all fell down.” Yikes!
With nursery rhymes playing such an important role in supporting language development, literacy, musicality, and imagination, I realized that instead of parents and educators avoiding them, they could instead be modified to have positive messaging and greater educational impact.
That’s how Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times® was born.
The collection features the same beloved characters from the traditional rhymes, but with new storylines that illustrate what it means to be kind, caring and compassionate, so they can be embraced by all.
How did your background and experience influence your writing?
I’ve always been musical. I play flute, piano, guitar and sing. That’s why I left the corporate world to become a preschool music teacher. Throughout my 20+ years as an early childhood educator, I learned about the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) in achieving academic, behavioral, and lifetime success.
Updating nursery rhymes to be more relevant, putting beloved, whimsical characters in situations that would model and convey messages of kindness, empathy, and gratitude, and pairing the rhymes with tools for SEL (an emoji chart and guiding questions) allowed me to use my knowledge and skills to provide fun and educational stories for a new generation of young learners.
With rhyming to support the language development that comes from hearing and processing rhymes, rhythm and music, writing these updated rhymes provided new opportunities to create meaningful, musical experiences with preschoolers whenever the rhymes are read or sung together.
What is one message you would like readers to remember?
Nursery rhymes have endured for generations for a good reason: they are fun, whimsical, memorable, and support language development through their predictable rhythm and rhyming patterns. Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times® provides an opportunity to share nursery rhymes that are more relevant and kind with young children. With stories that children can relate back to their own life experiences, these modernized rhymes provide meaningful content to support social-emotional development while exploring fun and engaging characters and stories.
Purchasing the Book
Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times® Volume 1 is currently available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and directly from Pam’s publisher, Mascot Books. Volume 2 is scheduled for its retail release in March 2025, so now is the perfect time to secure both books at a special bundle discount: Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times® Volume 1 & 2 Bundle.
In addition, parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians are encouraged to visit Pam’s website, www.pamgittleman.com, to learn more about her work, upcoming events, and new book releases.
Recorded songs of all the rhymes, as well as low-stimulation videos that bring each rhyme to life, can be found on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@nurseryrhymesforkindertimes.
To connect with Pam, visit her on Facebook (@ForKinderTimes) and Instagram (@forkindertimes).
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