Frog Went A-Courtin', by John Langstaff

Langstaff, John. Frog Went A-Courtin. Illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky. Harcout, Brace, Jovanovich, 1955. 32 pages. $7.00, ISBN 0-15-230214-X

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Traditional Literature (Folktale)

REVIEW
According to the foreword, this Caldecott Award winner is the retelling of a story which originated in Scotland over 400 years ago.  Frog decides he'd like to marry Miss Mouse, and so asks her for her hand.  Once she gets the approval of her Uncle Rat, the wedding is a go.  The last two-thirds of the story details the arrival of each of the wedding guests --  including a raccoon, a bumblebee, two ants, and a snake, among others -- and their contributions to the wedding day, such as fiddling, bringing cider, or laying the tablecloth, etc. Rojankovsky's ink and pencil illustrations depict the animals and insects in the story with accuracy and tenderness at the same time.  The artwork -- whether containing several colors in an image, or simply black and one other color -- is striking, and its style is suggestive of wood-cut printing in several instances.  Because the story rhymes, contains only two short lines per page and large illustrations, and is repetitive in its last two-thirds, it's a perfect choice for 1 and 2 year olds.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
Here is a rhyme to accompany this book during toddler storytime:

          THE FROG

          A little green frog once lived in a pool,
          The sun was hot and the water cool.
          He sat in the pool the whole day long,
          And sung a dear little, queer little song,
          "Juaggery do, Quaggery dee,
          No one was ever so happy as me."

Tuesday, by David Wiesner

Wiesner, David. Tuesday. Clarion Books, 1991. 30 pages. $7.99, ISBN 0395551137

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Picture book

REVIEW
As this Caldecott winner opens, a group of frogs, previously sleeping peacefully, are awakened by their lily pads' sudden levitation. The frogs are of course at first quite surprised, but eventually adjust to this development and settle in for their ride above marsh and suburbs, enjoying their new perspective, and the chance to scare a crow and a dog, wave to a man eating a late snack in his kitchen, and watch some television while an elderly woman sleeps. To me, the implications of this story are that anything is possible and that more amazing things happen in this world than most of us are aware. Tuesday is almost completely wordless, with the exception of the noting of the time and date on certain pages. For this reason, I feel that it's a great pick for all ages of young children, who can make up their own stories as they take in the illustrations.  The painted illustrations in their nighttime greens, purples, and blues with softly edged background images are lovely, but may be a bit too busy for babies, however. 

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This book can be shared at toddler storytime along with some nonfiction books about frogs.