A Maine writer once observed that if kids could vote, Rick Charette would be our next governor.

It’s a fun line, but it overlooks one important fact: A lot of those kids are grown up now — yet they’d still likely vote singer-songwriter Charette into any office in the land.

The wildly popular performer is returning to Auburn this weekend to perform at the Holiday Festival for Kids.

A funny thing happens when the 69-year-old performs these days — the adults in the crowd seem to know the words to “I Love Mud,” “Alligator in an Elevator” and other Charette tunes as well as the little ones.

“I’ll hear so many of the grown-ups singing right along because they remember the songs from when they were little,” Charette said. “Many of them have said that they’re so thankful that I’m still doing this, because they’re just so excited about sharing it with their own kids.

“They still remember all those emotions,” he said. “Their eyes light up when they get to relive their childhood.”

After more than 30 years of singing for, with and about children, Charette doesn’t seem to have lost his passion for the work. His 12 albums, two children’s picture books and three live concert videos have sold well over a quarter of a million copies, but he doesn’t talk a lot about that side of things.

For Charette, it’s all about the joy that can be had through music.

“It’s still fun,” said Charette, who has three grown kids of his own. “Sometimes it’s a little bit nerve-racking, wanting to be the best I can be. I still enjoy the way an audience responds. The kids get into it, the families get into it — they just really like the music a lot.”

You can hardly blame them. When you hear songs with titles like “Chickens on Vacation,” “Where Do My Sneakers Go at Night?” and “Taking My Cat Down the Slide,” it’s hard to subdue the snapping of your fingers and tapping of the foot.

Charette, who has degrees in music education and English, doesn’t take full credit for his massive body of fun-loving music, though. He’s collaborated a great deal along the way with musician Roy Clark and others, but also with the kids themselves.

Kids are natural storytellers and songwriters, Charette insists, as long as somebody shows them the way.

“I have them pick the topic,” he said. “I tried to have them come up with a topic that’s more than one word. Often they’ll just say, ‘animals.’ I’ve written so many animal songs.”

Charette laughs about this. He wouldn’t have lasted more than three decades in the business, after all, if he wasn’t patient with children and with the process.

“I’ll try to have them create a phrase that says something about those animals, something that pulls at the imagination a little bit,” he said. “It becomes fun; it becomes exciting wondering where it’s going to go. You don’t know and the kids don’t know. They respond the same way we do when they come up with something that’s exciting.”

Charette gets the kids involved in the whole spectrum.

With the words in hand, Charette and his child collaborators have a story before them. He then involves the kids in the next phase of the writing, creating a melody on which to hang the words.

“I’ll ask them, ‘What would this sound like if we were to turn it into a song?'”

Sometimes there are kids in the room who can instantly hum out a proper melody. Sometimes it takes more work than that. When everyone is in agreement on how the song will sound, Rick produces his guitar and plays it for them.

“At that point, the song is kind of off and running,” Charette said. “There are a lot of places it can go.”

Places with names like “Broken Donuts,” “Mr. Man in the Moon,” “King Kong Chair” and “I Spilled My Juice,” to name a few.

Reflecting on his career, Charette recalled that when he first got started in the early 1980s, children’s songs were mostly folk music.

“At the time, I felt like kids would respond to something more contemporary,” he said. “I started writing upbeat songs. They went over really well.”

That’s putting it mildly. According to his online bio: “Rick travels throughout the U.S. and Canada performing at schools and concert halls. For large concert events he performs with The Bubblegum Band and has appeared in venues such as Riverfest in Little Rock, Arkansas, Boston Citywide Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, and Imagination Parade — a live concert radio broadcast in New York City. His music has been featured on Peter Pan and Walt Disney Records and been cited in Entertainment Weekly and Billboard magazines.”

Charette isn’t performing as much as he used to, but he’s not exactly slowing to a halt, either. He has a solo show this week in Blue Hill and then he’s at the Holiday Festival in Auburn on Saturday.

“Many of the people come year after year with their children,” Charette said. “That’s the tradition. It’s a great way for families to start off the holiday season.”

He’s also still producing commercially. Charette broaches that topic with a joke.

“Why is six afraid of seven?” he asks.

The answer: “Because Seven Ate Nine,” which serves as both punchline and the title of Charette’s most recent album, a collection of old and new songs released in June.

That Charette is still writing and performing songs is decidedly good news for many, adults and children alike. A mere mention of his name is usually enough to get your average grown-up spouting Charette’s song titles and a few happy memories.

“‘Mud’ was one of my favorites,” Christopher Gendron of Lewiston said. “And in fourth grade, he came to Martel School and we created a song about Gov. McKernan!”

“Bubblegum, bubblegum,” declares Matt Butler of Auburn. “Lots of fun with my bubblegum.”

“Mud, mud, I love mud!” Missi Wilson Boyd of Danville said. “I’m absolutely positively wild about mud!”

“We sang along to his tapes years ago when I taught the little ones,” said Jacqueline Violette, who taught in Lewiston schools. “‘Mud, mud’ was a favorite. I used to serve mud cups in the spring and that was our theme song. Good times.”

Charette understands the enthusiasm. We all have a kid inside us, he said, and letting that kid out to play is what his music is all about. It’s a concept he built a career around and it’s a career he continues to love.

“It’s almost like it’s chosen me,” Charette mused, “rather than I chose it.”

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Singer-songwriter Rick Charette will perform at the 31st annual Advocates for Children Holiday Festival, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, at St. Dominic Academy in Auburn. Proceeds will benefit Advocates for Children programs and services for families in Androscoggin County. For more information, call 207-783-3990.

Find out more about Rick Charette, his books, music and schedule, at rickcharette.com.