November 9 – Tongue Twisters Day

Happy Tongue Twisters Day!

Kids love tongue twisters. How fast can you say it? How many times?

She Sells Seashells and Other Tricky Tongue Twisters written by Nancy Loewen and illustrated by Donald Wu (2011)

This book is more than just a collection of tongue twisters (although there are plenty). It also tells a little story about a boy named Ken Chen who has a day filled with tongue twisters. Along the way, the reader is given little tidbits of information about tongue twisters. For example, the reader learns that many people who are learning English as a second language use tongue twisters to improve their skills. Readers also learn about alliterations (words that have the same beginning sounds), sign language (which also has ‘tongue twisters’ in the form of ‘finger fumblers’, and homophones (words which have the same sound but different spellings and meanings, like ‘would’ and ‘wood’). And did you know that one very popular tongue twister was based on a real person? It was Mary Anning who lived in Great Britian in the 1800s. Mary and her brother helped their family by collecting and selling souvenirs and they discovered a new kind of dinosaur! You’ve heard of her… she’s the one who sells seashells by the seashore!

Here are some other tongue twister collections:

Six Sheep Sip Thick Shakes and Other Tricky Tongue Twisters written by Brian P. Cleary and illustrated by Steve Mack (2011)

This collection of tricky tongue twisters is set on colorfully illustrated pages. Each page can be read and enjoyed independently of the others.

Picture this: A penguin in an icy cold shower… The water in Flo’s Inn Flows in frozen.

Or this one: Two cat police officers capture a dog while the third cat officer sneezes… She sneezed in her sleeve as they seized Mrs. Sleed.

Giggle Fit: Tricky Tongue-Twisters written by Joseph Rosenbloom and illustrated by Stever Harpster (2001)

This collection of tricky tongue-twisters is organized alphabetically. Yes, even Q and X have tongue-twisters. Try these for yourself:

Quincy! Quack quietly or quit quacking! Quincy! Quack quietly or quit quacking! Quincy! Quack quietly or quit quacking!

or

Ex-disk jockey. Ex-disk jockey. Ex-disk jockey.

Giggle Fit: Zany Tongue-Twisters written by Joseph Rosenbloom and Mike Artell and illustrated by Steve Harpster (2005)