Customer Reviews

Froggie Went A-Courting: An Old Tale with a New Twist

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As a music teacher who uses the traditional song "Frog Went A-Courtin'" in class, it was a delight to see this new book based on the old folk song. The story now takes place in New York City. Instead of Froggy going courting with a sword and pistol by his side, now he takes a taxi to the upper west side! All the verses are very cute, incorporating other parts of NYC (Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Broadway, Chinatown, etc). The story goes right along with the old folk song, just adds a modern twist. It's fun to sing the story with the traditional melody (adding the mm-hmm mm-hmm's) as well as reading it as-is. It's also fun to compare the traditional song to this new updated one. There's a book by John Langstaff that uses the traditional song. Great story, great illustrations, GREAT BUY!

As the author states in the foreword, there are literally HUNDREDS of variations of Froggie Went A-Courting. I personally know three different versions (and four different melodies, one of the versions has two melodies) to this song, and I know of several more. So before anybody talks about the "traditional tune doesn't match the words", I gotta ask - which tradition? Which tune?

However, I will note that most versions I know of have a chorus. If you're going to sing this book you're largely going to have to add the chorus yourself, and probably repeat lines here and there. That means this book is going to take two to three times longer to SING than it is to READ. Be prepared. (I sing it by tripling the first line and adding the refrain where needed.)

I like the illustrations well enough, and, as a New Yorker, I love the new setting. (You'd be surprised, but there actually aren't as many picture books as you'd expect that take place in a city. I snatch them up wherever I see them!)

I will say, however, that some of the word choices are a bit clunky. "Into town the guests did funnel/some by bridge and some by tunnel" springs to mind, as does "How many layers on the cake?/As many as floors in the Empire State". (That one particularly irks me, as the Empire State is New York State. The building is the "Empire State" Building.) And at one point they really make no sense. After Auntie Rat is duly eaten (she spent the whole book trying to break up the happy couple, so no great loss there) we first are told "All the guests then did cry", but then we're told that the guests pretty much IMMEDIATELY "resumed their celebrating" which, no matter how unliked Auntie Rat may have been ("Though cat ate rat there's no denial/Aunt Rat at last made someone smile"), strikes me as a wee bit callous. I mean, she was just EATEN right in front of their eyes! A moment of silence wouldn't go amiss.

Still, if you can ignore the few weird areas, it's a great book. I recommend it.

It is another fabulous illustration book by Marjorie Priceman about our creature friends, a frog and a rat who decide to tie the knot. The characters are unique and fun both in design and personality... How they relate to each other is especially something different. The setting of New York is designed with a broadway flair bold and dramatic, resembling other Priceman work. It is a fun read for young children to give them a sense of New York from Chinatown, West Side, Broadway, Chinatown and more!

Good book...fun twist. I do, however, prefer Iza Trepani's illustrated version of "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" because it follows the folk song without variance from the original melody. The New Twist doesn't quite follow the song, unfortunately, so you really can't sing it without making up a new melody.