Mamá, Lee la Historia
(Mommy, Read Me the Story)

Words and music by Peter Baird
© 1996 Peter Baird

Peter shared this song with CMN at the Round-Robin during the 2000 Conference in Warwick, New York. Peter, a bilingual teacher, wrote “Mamá, Lee la Historia” in 1996 as a theme song for a parent literacy program at Fairsite Elementary School in Gait, California. The literacy program was called Todos Somos Autores / We Are All Authors. Mexican immigrant parents were assisted in writing books to their children about their life struggles and dreams. The children were then encouraged to write a book back to their parents. In this way, each could say “Read me the story, the one you wrote for me.” The verses are sung back and forth in Spanish and English, altering the rhythmic values slightly to fit the English words. Change the first word in this zipper song to fit the occasion.