小白兔白又白 (Xiǎo Báitù Bái Yòu Bái): The Little White Rabbit Nursery Rhyme

Quick answer: 小白兔白又白 (Xiǎo Báitù Bái Yòu Bái, "Little White Rabbit, So White") is about as simple as Chinese nursery rhymes get — four short lines about a white rabbit's ears, its favorite foods, and its hopping — which makes it a common first rhyme for Chinese toddlers.

The lyrics

Chinese	Pinyin	English
小白兔，白又白，	Xiǎo báitù, bái yòu bái,	Little white rabbit, so white,
两只耳朵竖起来，	liǎng zhī ěrduo shù qǐlái,	Two ears standing straight up,
爱吃萝卜爱吃菜，	ài chī luóbo ài chī cài,	Loves eating radishes, loves eating greens,
蹦蹦跳跳真可爱。	bèngbèng tiàotiào zhēn kě'ài.	Hopping and jumping, so adorable.

Where it comes from

小白兔白又白 is a traditional, folk-style nursery rhyme with no known individual author — the kind of short, rhyming verse that's been passed down through Chinese households and early-childhood classrooms for generations rather than credited to a songwriter or a film. Its appeal has nothing to do with story and everything to do with structure: four short, rhyming lines built from very common words (a color, an animal, some foods, and an ending exclamation), which makes it one of the easiest rhymes for a toddler to memorize and eventually recite on their own. It plays roughly the same role in Mandarin-speaking early childhood that a rhyme like "Baa Baa Black Sheep" plays in English.

How to sing it with your baby

• Newborn–6 months: The short, evenly-spaced lines make this an easy one to recite rhythmically rather than sing — try it as a spoken chant during a nappy change or while getting dressed.
• 6–18 months: Put your hands up like rabbit ears on "两只耳朵竖起来" (liǎng zhī ěrduo shù qǐlái) — a simple, repeatable gesture babies this age often start to anticipate and, eventually, imitate with their own hands.
• 18 months+: Add a hop on "蹦蹦跳跳" (bèngbèng tiàotiào) and let your toddler join in physically, and once they know the rhyme well, pause before the last word of a line and see if they'll fill it in themselves.

Continue building your song list

This is one of the individual lullaby and nursery-rhyme posts on Twiglet Tales — see the full collection of Chinese lullabies and nursery rhymes for more songs at every stage, or continue with the Growth Roadmap for a staged plan beyond songs alone.