A for Amma, Aa for Aavu: The Telugu Letters Song

Told in English, Telugu.

In a little village near Rajahmundry, there lived a girl named Chinni. Chinni had a black slate and a white piece of chalk. Every evening, she sat on the porch with her Nanamma.

One evening, Nanamma said, "Chinni, shall we learn our Telugu letters today? We will find them all around the house, and we will sing a song."

Chinni clapped her hands. "Yes, Nanamma! A song!"

Nanamma drew the first letter on the slate. "This is a," she said. "A for amma!"

Just then, Amma came out of the kitchen with a plate of warm pesarattu. Chinni ran and hugged her. "A, amma!" she sang. Amma laughed and kissed her head.

Then Nanamma sang the little song, and Chinni sang with her.

A, aa, i, ee, sing with me, Letters are friends for you and me!

Can you sing it too? A, aa, i, ee, sing with me, letters are friends for you and me!

Next, Nanamma drew another letter. "This is aa. Aa for aavu!"

Chinni looked out into the yard. There stood Lakshmi, their gentle brown cow, chewing green grass. "Aa, aavu!" sang Chinni. And Lakshmi said, "Mooo!" Because Chinni sang so loudly, the cow sang back! Chinni giggled and giggled.

"I for illu," said Nanamma, pointing to their little house with the red roof. "Ee for eega," she said, as a tiny fly buzzed past and flew away.

"I, illu! Ee, eega!" sang Chinni, waving bye bye to the fly.

A, aa, i, ee, sing with me, Letters are friends for you and me!

Then a little squirrel ran down the mango tree. Swish, swish went its stripy tail.

"U for uduta!" said Nanamma.

"U, uduta!" sang Chinni. The squirrel stopped, looked at her, and then ran up the tree again, quick as a wink.

Chinni sat on the wooden swing that hung from the porch. Up she went, and down she came.

"Oo for ooyala!" said Nanamma, and she gave the swing a gentle push.

"Oo, ooyala!" sang Chinni, flying up high and coming down low.

A, aa, i, ee, sing with me, Letters are friends for you and me!

Soon a little mouse peeped out from behind the rice sack. "E for eluka," whispered Nanamma. "E, eluka," whispered Chinni, so she would not scare the tiny mouse.

Then Nanamma told her about a big, big animal with a long trunk. "Ae for aenugu!" Chinni stretched her arm out like a trunk and stomped around the porch. Stomp, stomp, stomp!

She held up her hand and counted her fingers. One, two, three, four, five. "Ai for aidu!" said Nanamma. "Ai, aidu!" sang Chinni, wiggling all five fingers.

Now the sky was turning orange and pink. Chinni gave a big yawn.

"We learned so many letters today," said Nanamma softly. "Tomorrow we will learn more. Letters are like friends. The more you say hello to them, the better you know them."

Chinni looked at her slate full of letters. She smiled a sleepy smile. "Good night, letters," she said.

And as Nanamma carried her inside, Chinni sang one last time, very, very softly.

A, aa, i, ee, sing with me, Letters are friends for you and me.

Good night, little one. Sweet dreams.