Tag Archives: Happy Birthday to You

Perfect Picture Book Friday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU: THE SISTERS WHO WROTE THE MOST FAMOUS SONG IN THE WORLD

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! Today’s featured book will delight everyone who has ever had a birthday…YES! That’s you and you and you! And when author Rachelle Burk told me about her newest picture book, I just knew I had to share it with all of you.

What a joyous cover! And children hear this song from the time they are infants…what a wonderful idea for a book! And the lovely Rachelle was kind enough to stop by to share a bit about the book and what inspired her to write it.
ME: Welcome, Rachelle! Thank you for writing this amazing book…and thank you for stopping by to chat with us.

RACHELLE: It’s my pleasure, Vivian. Thank you for having me. Here’s a little bit about the book and then I’ll share what inspired me to write it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU: THE SISTERS WHO WROTE THE MOST FAMOUS SONG IN THE WORLD 

(Creston Books, September 9, 2025) ISBN-13.  ‎978-1954354340. by Rachelle Burk, Abigail Lashbrook, illustrator.)

synopsis/summary

Patty and Mildred Hill are the most famous composers that most people have never heard of. 

These are the two sisters who came up with the “Happy Birthday to You!” song in an effort to make something all children could easily sing at birthday parties. What they ended up with was an iconic song the whole world would love.

“Happy Birthday to You!” has been sung to presidents and kings, on big stages and in outer space. And it all started in a kindergarten classroom with a teacher coaxing her children to sing an easy tune all together!

What inspired me? 

I subscribe to a lovely daily email newsletter called Nice News. One day it included a brief article about Mildred and Patty Hill, the Kentucky sisters who wrote the “happy birthday” song. Like most people, I had never given any thought to who wrote that song, or when. It seemed to have simply existed forever! I was fascinated with the story, and knew kids would be too. I discovered that there were no children’s books currently in print about these extraordinary women, so I jumped on it! 

Writing the story was a bigger challenge than I expected. Internet details about the sisters are often contradictory or completely incorrect, and reliable information is not easily accessible. I struck gold when I discovered a lengthy research paper by a law professor about the copyright of the song which contains a significant amount of background information on the Hill sisters, including invaluable source notes. He generously provided me with several important documents, and the rest I acquired from  university archives.

The lives of the sisters (beyond the song) are so fascinating that I added a great deal of back matter in the book. For example, Patty Hill sued Irving Berlin for using the song in one of his plays without permission or paying royalties. But she donated all the money won in the lawsuit to education for poor children.

Midwest Book Reviews: A wonderfully illustrated and engagingly informative picture book on how the universal birthday song, “Happy Birthday to You” came to be created, this hardcover edition of “Happy Birthday to You!: The Sisters Who Wrote the Most Famous Song in the World” from Creston Books is a unique and unreservedly recommended pick for family, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 6-11.

BIOS
Rachelle Burk is the author of more than twenty-five fiction and nonfiction books for children. She also enjoys adventure, and is a scuba diver, hiker, and caver. Rachelle loves to visit schools around the country with her author visit and storytelling programs. https://rachelleburk.com

Facebook/Instagram:  @rachelleburk

Illustrator Abigail Lashbrook (https://www.abigaillashbrook.com) studied art in New York and San Francisco, both fine art and illustration. She brings both skills to her work in picture books.

Available at: 
Amazon
B&N
or your favorite indie store

WOW! Thank you so much for sharing all of this, Rachelle! I know that readers of this blog will enjoy hearing about how you discovered the topic for your story…and how you dug deep to uncover enough info to create this wonderful book!
Dear friends…please help this book become a success – you can do it!
Buy the book
Review the book
Tell friends about the book (Please share on your social media)
Ask local libraries to purchase copies for their collection!

Thank you for spending your precious time with us. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Chlldren’s Birthday Parties: Then and Now

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“Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday dear………”

Do you remember the birthday parties you had when you were a child?

I do, even though it was a long, long time ago. 🙂

My mom would bake a cake and invite a few of my friends over.  We would play games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Musical Chairs.  Then I would open the presents and thank each child for the gift, saving all of the ribbon and wrapping paper for future arts and crafts projects.  Then we children would sit down and my mom would bring in the cake with candles lit while everyone sang Happy Birthday.  When the party was over, I would hand each child a little bag with a few small items: balloon, whistle, box of cracker-jack.

Parties these days are often very different.  Many children go to preschool or other childcare facilities where they have a dozen friends or more.  Add to that neighbor children and family members and you can wind up with a list of two dozen children that need to be invited.   In addition, in many families, both parents are working outside the home and having such a big party at home is more than they can cope with.

 

A whole new industry has emerged: facilities that cater to parties for two, three and four year olds.  There are bounce house and other indoor playground-type facilities, in addition to museums, zoos and farms that will put together a program of activities including food and time for opening presents…all supervised by their employees.

 

Earlier this month, I visited my daughter and her family in New Hampshire and helped celebrate my grandson’s third birthday at BounceU in Bedford, NH.  The children had a ball!  Parents could participate with their children if they wanted to…climbing and sliding and bouncing.  The pizza they served was pretty good and the birthday cake was delicious.  One of the employees even sat close, writing down who the gift was from and what it was, while presents were being unwrapped.

 

I know my grandson had a wonderful time and was thrilled to have all of his friends wishing him a happy birthday.  All of the children were delighted with the activities and their parents were pleased with the BounceU facility.

The big birthday party was celebrated on a Sunday, but my grandson’s actual birthday fell on the next day.  His dad had to work, but came home early so that we could all spend the afternoon at a beautiful nearby park.

 

Jeremy got to try out the birthday present he had received from his Grampy, a new fishing rod!

 

And when we got home, Jeremy got to open presents from his mom and dad…and blow out the candles on a small birthday cake that was just perfect for the four of us.

I was happy that Jeremy got to experience these two different birthday celebrations.  Although the larger party was certainly lots of fun, there were elements in the smaller one that made it so very special and harkened back to those parties of long ago.

What are your thoughts?

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