Kodaly specified that the 50 Nursery Songs were meant for the smallest children, primarily those in the Kindergarten.
The pentatonic tunes have a range of six notes.
They are not intended as sight reading material but to provide very simple note and rhythm patterns for the kindergarten.
The original Hungarian poems were specially written to conform to the rhythmic patterns required by the composer and, with these revised English translations, Geoffrey Russell-Smith has tried to provide acceptable rhyming texts which fit the musical stresses while retaining the original feeling of fun and sometimes wonder.