Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

Are You Sleeping: A Short Nursery Rhyme

share icon
share icon
Overview

Nursery rhymes are simple and easy to memorise. Kids at a very young age are taught these rhymes for developing vocabulary and instruction following skills.


  • This rhyme is about two brothers and a fine morning.

  • It is a classic rhyme that explains kids to rise early in the morning.

Are You Sleeping Rhyme: An Overview

This rhyme originated in France in 1780. It was composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau. This rhyme was translated into many languages later. It is known as “Frère Blaise” in French. The English version has been provided in this article to teach kids this beautiful rhyme. Find out who is Brother John in this rhyme and why the other one is trying to wake him up.

Brother John Nursery Rhymes

There are different versions and rhymes in this series. Brother John is a poem that depicts two brothers. Brother John is sleeping whereas the other brother is trying to wake him up. In this version, the other brother is trying to wake John up as the bells are ringing.


The different versions are available in various languages. The lines have been transformed according to the culture and tradition of the countries. Let us find out the Are You Sleeping Lyrics of the English version.

Are You Sleeping Brother John Lyrics

Here are the lyrics of Brother John Are You Sleeping rhyme.


Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?

Brother John, Brother John,

Morning bells are ringing!

Morning bells are ringing!

Ding, dang, dong.

Ding, dang, dong.


This is a short rhyme for the nursery and kindergarten kids to study and memorise. They will love to sing this rhyme.


Brother John Waking Up


Brother John Waking Up

Importance of Brother John Are You Sleeping Nursery Rhyme

This rhyme is about two brothers. One of the brothers’ names is John. John is sleeping while the other brother is awake. It is not clear who is the elder one among them. In this rhyme, the other brother is trying to wake him up as the morning bells in the village are ringing.


The morning bells ring when the village wakes up. It was an old ritual when people were unable to afford clocks. The bells were installed high up in a tower. A person was assigned to ring the bells in the morning to wake up the whole village or town.


The sounds of the ringing bells travelled across the town or village as they were installed high above the ground in a dome of a tower. This helped the villagers to know the time to wake up and go to work. The same protocol is followed by one of the brothers. Brother John is still sleeping and the other one is anxious to wake him up.


Brothers Ready Early in the Morning


Brothers Ready Early in the Morning

Significance of Brother John Nursery Rhyme

The third line ‘morning bells are ringing’ indicates that it is a nursery rhyme that explains the importance of rising early in the morning. Kids will find this rhyme educative as they will learn why Brother John needs to wake up early in the morning.


It seems the other brother wants his brother to wake up. The whole town or village is awakened by the morning bells. Parents can explain why the whole town waits for the morning bells and why all the people wake up at the same time.

Tips for Parents

Parents can create their own versions of reasons for waking up early in the morning. They can explain the benefit of rising early and going to bed at the right time. This rhyme is a good educational tool to teach kids when to wake up in the morning.

Want to read offline? download full PDF here
Download full PDF
Is this page helpful?
like-imagedislike-image
Courses for kids
icon
English Superstar
Grade LKG - 2
icon
Maths Classes
Grade 1 - 2
icon
Spoken English
Grade 3 - 5

FAQs on Are You Sleeping: A Short Nursery Rhyme

1. Who is Brother John?

Brother John is one of the brothers in the rhyme who is sleeping.

2. Why should Brother John wake up?

Brother John is supposed to wake up as the morning bells are ringing.

3. Why did the other brother wake Brother John?

The other brother is anxious that Brother John has work to do in the morning and he is still sleeping.


Overview

Nursery rhymes are simple and easy to memorise. Kids at a very young age are taught these rhymes for developing vocabulary and instruction following skills.


  • This rhyme is about two brothers and a fine morning.

  • It is a classic rhyme that explains kids to rise early in the morning.