Frog Went A-Courtin' [Hardcover]

John Langstaff (Author), Feodor Rojankovsky (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 1955 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: K and up

“A favorite old nursery ballad now appears in resplendent new dress. . . . Illustrator Feodor Rojankovsky somehow manages to combine quaintness with sophistication and his doughty frog, the coy mouse . . . and others make charming company.”--The New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Langstaff (December 24, 1920 - December 13, 2005), a concert baritone, and early music revivalist was the founder of the Northeast United States tradition of the Christmas Revels, as well as a respected musician and educator. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music as well as Juilliard. In 1943 he married Diane Hamilton. He was later married to Nancy Woodbridge, a pianist.

Throughout his adult life, Langstaff was a dedicated music educator. In 1955, he became the music director at The Potomac School, in Washington, DC, and later taught at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He wrote twenty-five books, including the Caldecott Medal-winning Frog Went A-Courtin'. He hosted the BBC-TV children's program "Making Music" for five years, and produced a series of videos called "Making Music with John Langstaff" for parents and teachers. He also published songbooks, teacher's guides, and production guides for the Revels.

Langstaff's recording career was varied and long. Beginning with English traditional music in the 1950s, he continued with the founding of Revels Records, recording primarily children's and traditional music.

Born in Mitava, Russia, Rojankovsky was educated at the Moscow Fine Arts Academy and served in the Russian Army during WWI. Soon afterward, he moved to France and studied under Esther Averill. In 1941, he moved to the US and began a career of illustrating more than a hundred books, most having to do with animals and/or nature. Rojankovsky also wrote books, an example being The Great Big Animal Book, published in 1952. He was awarded the 1956 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book Frog Went A-Courtin'.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; First Edition. states edition (March 10, 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015230214X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152302146
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swamp based enjoyment, March 27, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Frog Went A-Courtin' (Hardcover)

The time was when the song Frog Went A-Courtin' (or as I remember it Froggie Went A-Courtin') was known to every man woman and child in the continental United States. Today, this is not the case. The story of the frog dandy and his lovely rodent bride is no longer sung half so much as it once was. What is to blame for this strange turn of fortune? Interspecies dating fears? A loathsome repugnance to frog songs? I have no idea. Just the same, it's a delight to think that books like the 1956 Caldecott winning "Frog Went A-Courtin'" can carry on the song's tradition, regardless of how often it is sung today.

In a respectful author's note at the beginning, writer John Langstaff explains the origins of the song. Transposed from Scotland to America (there's a wonderful picture of a small yellow frog jumping from one bank entitled "Scotland" to another bank entitled "America" accompanying the explanation) the song has changed and grown over the course of many many years. Langstaff is quick to give credit where credit is due. Says he, "Sometimes the grownups might forget some of the words, and the children would make up words they liked better, and put them in the song". As a result, Langstaff credits the song to the hundreds of adults and children that passed it on to one another. His version is a combination of these, and perhaps the best possible. The narration is smooth and the lyrics scan perfectly. All in all, an enjoyable tale.

The illustrations are really what make this tale top notch. Artist Feodor Rojankovsky paired with Langstaff on a number of different picture books over the years. In this story, every scene is well thought out and delicate. The details are brought fully to life through Rojankovsky's adept inks and colored pencils. The froggy wears shiny black boots with spurs, flipper shaped for his comfort. Bugs and beetles wear the latest 1955 fashions and gleam blue-black against their surroundings. Totally aside from the beauty of the illustrations is the fact that every animal in this book is perfectly presented. You have little doubt that Rojankovsky spent much of his time discovering exactly how many legs a bumblebee has so that he could draw one playing the banjo [just] right. In a lovely parting shot the mouse and the frog are on a steamer headed for a honeymoon in France. Froggie has doffed a beret and the two are reclining on the deck, happy as you please. The book is endlessly charming and entirely too wonderful to ever be forgotten. Do yourself a favor immediately and locate yourself a copy tout de suite.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Frog Went A-Courtin to Find a Mouse., January 31, 2005

By 

EKU Student "Cristal" (KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frog Went A-Courtin' (Hardcover)

Frog Went A-Courtin', is a story of a fantacy genre which was written in Scotland over 400 years ago, where it was told and sung to the children. As people began to move from Scotland to America they brought the "Frog and Mouse" song with them. John Langstaff explained this in the front of the book. Today, it is mainly read aloud, but the great illustrations, done by Feodor Rojankovsky, give great detail with a broad range of color use. The book was awarded a Caldecott Medal for "The most distinguished American picture book for children." The book tells a story of a frog who went out to seek a bride and meets a mouse. The mouse will not marry until her uncle "Rat" gives consent. Then with the uncle's consent various animal's contribute to the Frog and the Rats wedding. The wedding seems to be going great until the cat comes in to destroy it. With the guest running off, the book ends with the Frog and the Mouse resting on the deck of a ship going to France.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mmm-hmmm, June 12, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Frog Went A-Courtin' (Paperback)

I dare you to read this to your kids without adding the mmm-hmmm's.

I don't think it can be done -- they are just THERE.

So, we always read it as a sing-along. (This book has the music at the back, for your little ones to plunk on the piano.)

Great illustrations with lots of personality.

Mmmm-hmmm!