Emma Neustetel composed the German children's hymn "Ach! lehre mich ein Kindlein sein" to emphasize the virtues of simplicity, humility, and childlike faith. The text was structured into 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. It was included as entry Number 41 in the Evangelisches Kinder Gesang-Buch, published in Basel, Switzerland, in 1867.
The text was translated into English by Frances Bevan. Her translation, which opens with the line "O that I were a little child," provided a full rendering of Neustetel's 7 stanzas. It was published in Bevan's compilation Songs of Praise for Christian Pilgrims on page 145 in 1859.
From there, the English text was adopted for broader youth liturgy, appearing around 1860 as entry Number 44 in the Children's Hymn Book edited by the Reverend John Erskine Clarke.
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