My Itinerary ({: itinerary.length :})

{: event.badge :}

{: event.title :}

{: event.dates :} {: event.dateDescription :}
{: item :}
Suitable for {: item :}

Here Be Dragons co-curated by Cressida Cowell and Toothless - opens 13 July. Admission included with ticket to the Galleries

1001 Stories Collection

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

1001 twinkletwinklelittlestar
Added on 17th July 2020

Oral tradition English nursery rhyme

Environment and nature
1001

A much loved night time song for the very young.

Story

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

How I wonder what you are

Why we chose it

One of the most popular songs with our youngest visitors, Twinkle, Twinkle was part of our original audio collection and featured in the Nursery Rhyme room in our Time for Bed exhibition.

Where it came from

The poem was written by Jane Taylor in 1806 and published in a book of poems for children, Rhymes for the Nursery, by Jane and her sister Ann. It was set to music some time later.

Where it went next

Versions can be found all over the world in many different languages. Lewis Carroll parodied it in Alice in Wonderland where the Mad Hatter sings, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat.

Associated stories

The American song Star Light, Star Bright is about wishing on the first star to appear in the sky. When You Wish Upon A Star from the Disney film Pinnochio won the Academy Award for best original song.

Added on 17th July 2020

Oral tradition English nursery rhyme

Environment and nature
1001