Frog Went A-Courtin'

by John Langstaff, Feodor Rojankovsky (Illustrator)

This is a very classic children's book about a country frog that sets out to,find a mate.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Music, Poetry, Folklore

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like when authors write down these oral stories that have been passed down for generations so we can all read them. This is an old Scottish ballad about a frog. It talks about courtin’ but it’s really more about the wedding. The Frog simply walks up to a mouse and asks for her hand and the wedding is on. There is a big celebration.

The best part is they end up on a boat heading to Paris. Now that’s an ending. I loved the soft artwork of this book. All the little insects and animals had such lovely details. This is a song put down as words and the music is on the last page to sing this to. It’s more like a poem or ballad.

The kids thought this was an OK story. The niece did think the wedding seemed to happen really fast. She gave it 2 stars and the nephew gave it 3 stars.

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indeed, Frog Went a-Courtin' is what I would loudly as well as with much personal conviction declare an in all ways perfect and engagingly marvellous marriage of text and images. For yes, the by author John Langstaff adapted narrative, the featured folksong text (which is rollicking, silly and fun and basically a successful and richly delightful combination of many of the different Frog Went a-Courtin traditions of lore) is supremely and magically complemented and complimented by Feodor Rojankovsky's bright and sweetly descriptive accompanying illustrations (and yes, I can certainly both understand and massively appreciate why and how this book won the Caldecott Medal for the latter, for Feodor Rojankovsky). And the informative author's note at the back of Frog Went a-Courtin' is also and additionally a much appreciated and massively enjoyed added bonus for and to me (especially since so so many early adaptations of folksongs, folklore and the like often do not contain these), although personally, I would indeed have appreciated a bit of a bibliography and some suggestions for further reading as well (but that is really mostly my academic self talking and probably way above and beyond the scope of Frog Went a-Courtin' and in NO way meant as a criticism either). And for me, what ultimately has clinched a five star rating for Frog Went a-Courtin' (and also a place on my favourites shelf) is the fact that John Langstaff also includes a musical score, one of the many tunes for the ballad, and according to Langstaff, the easiest one he knows. Most highly recommended, and not just for children either!

[Jan Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

...or, rather, sung, a dozen times or so. I'm not tone-deaf and can sing a semblance of a tune.

As of last week, I have four grandchildren. Since January 2016, I've gone from zero to four, thanks to my two children and their spouses. Four under three! 😯 So I get to read all these books. We go to the library and get six or eight at a time. Don't recall doing that when ours were small. I guess we just read the ones we had over and over.

I'm looking forward to sharing with these new people some of the childhood books I still have. 😊

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild ride. Had no idea what I was getting into. Picked up on a whim.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In honor of the birth of my grandniece early this morning, I will give you a picture book review today. The Caldecott winner for 1956 was illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky with some pages in green and black, others in full color. The style is pen and crayons. Something about the eyes of all the animals and insects give them a human look, similar to the Mickey Mouse of the time.

Frog goes a courtin' and marries Mouse. The text is an old Scottish tune which Langstaff wrote up by combining different versions. He was an American folk musician and educator as well as the founder of "Christmas Revels," a Solstice and Christmas stage show which involved the audience in singing and dancing and has been performed annually since the 1970s. Susan Cooper, author of the Dark is Rising series, was a friend to Langstaff and a writer for "Christmas Revels."

Back in the day, when I used to teach music to help cover the tuition at the Montessori school where I sent my boys, I taught this song. Later I wrote my own courtin' song called "No Promises," for my future and current husband. Courtin's songs are very powerful.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old song that has been passed down through the generations, changing it as each generation adopted it as its own along the way. It's a fun little tale, although I don't think I ever got the tune quite right (the melody is printed in the back, but I don't read music well at all.)

Our girls enjoyed the story and laughed at the illustrations. We also enjoyed watching the pages animated to the song as sung by Rus Young and Jack Sundrud on a Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD. They did a much better job than I ever could, which really added to our enjoyment of this story! It included seven other sing-along songs with animations of the illustrated books.

This book was selected as one of the books for the October 2014 - Quarterly Caldecott discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I owned a paperback version of this book as a kid, and I always liked that it looked like a coloring book the author had colored in with crayons. I didn’t care much about the romance, but loved seeing the different creatures file in for the wedding supper. Reading it now, my favorite pictures are of the raccoon carrying the silver spoon and the chick wearing his bib. (I am kind of freaked out by the chick lying down being forced to drink castor oil after he eats too much.) I like that the animals all seem very large and important until the tom cat comes along and gives us some perspective. It’s a neat way to sort of end the magic of the party before Frog and Miss Mouse run off to France!

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that brings back some sort of memory for me so it was shared with me at some point in my youth. This song/story's origins are lost but we do know that it was written down in Scotland well over 400 years ago and it is just as delightful and silly today as it was then. This offering won the Caldecott Medal as "The most distinguished American picture book for children" back in the year of its publication and that is well-deserved.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frog Went A-Courtin' is based on a famous folk song that nearly everyone has heard. Feodor Rojankovsky's illustrations are impressive by themselves, but they also do justice to the song's old-fashioned tone, illuminating the playful lyrics with notable skill. I'm not surprised these illustrations were deemed worthy of the 1956 Caldecott Medal.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate that Langstaff includes a note about the origins of this ballad and includes one possible tune at the end. I love the details of the illustrations, particularly the expressions on the animals' faces. My children and I enjoyed the rhythm of the song, the story line and the illustrations. A very worthy early Caldecott winner.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to sing version of the famous song.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say that I love the tale, but apparently it's a piece of Americana that I missed out on as a child. I'll have to try picking out the tune on the piano.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

1956 Caldecott Medal Winner
These older books are hard to rate. They are so different from books that are more recently published.

[Tara DuBose-Schmitt]

You absolutely must sing this book.

[Kristin Nare · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys LOVE this book, with its whimsical illustrations and quaint story line. I remember my grandma singing part of this song, so it holds nostalgia for me as well. After reading it, we looked up a couple renditions of the song on YouTube, which my boys keep asking to hear again and again.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An illustrated version of the favorite song. A story about the story precedes the text and gives some background information on the origination of the tale and the version this book follows (southern Appalachia). Illustrations flip back and forth between full color and black and white with highlights of green.

The picture of the chick who eats so much he gets sick may scare really young children as the bird is laying on his back and being force fed green castor oil through a funnel. Also the long sharp claws of the cat on the two page spread near the end may scare young readers/listeners.

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on an old traditional folk song, Ackerman tells the story of a frog who loved a mouse and was intent on marriage. This is a cooperative effort, with everyone bringing something to the celebration. Langstaff researched the tale back some 400 years to the original Scottish song, but relied most heavily on the version sung in various parts of America. The book includes the music notes at the end, so you can plunk it out on the piano (or guitar?) if you’ve never heard it sung.

Feodor Rojankovsky won a Caldecott medal for his illustrations. They are wonderfully detailed; even the tiniest flea is given a fully emotive depiction.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rojankovsky's illustrations of the various animals are very cute and appealing. Full color illustrations alternate with black and white illustrations tinted with green. All of the animals, even the insects have very expressive faces. They also convey a lot of movement and energy. In an opening note, Langstaff indicates that he has cobbled together verses from many different versions of the song that he has collected over the years. This is one of the most fun of the early Caldecott award winners.
(Caldecott Award, 1956)

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my style of book, animal illustrations are cute, but, I was more than ready for the cat to show up.. lol

I did appreciate the sheet music at the end and the author's note about the history of the story/song at the beginning of the book.

My parents apparently didn't know this one and I never heard it at a storytime as a child, so I don't have any kind of emotional connection to it which may have influenced my sense of apathy. I think my daughter would have also enjoyed the part with the cat.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frog Went A-Courtin' is the 1956 Caldecott Award winner. I really enjoyed this Scottish folk song that has been passed down and around the world for 400 years. I loved the background information included in the preface of the book.

This is a great book to read a-loud b/c it's intended to be sung while reading. I really liked Feodor Rojankovsky's illustrations too! They are really well done and fanciful. This is just a really fun book and I really loved the unexpected ending!

[Sarah Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was originally a well known folk song put into book form in 1955. The illustrations are fun and reminiscent of the era in which they were created.

[Courtney Seiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frog Went A-Courtin’ by John Langstaff and illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky is a Caldecott Award winner. This book is a depiction of a classic, popular folksong. Langstaff added an ending that would please young readers more than the original, catastrophic ending. Instead of a gray cat swallowing the mouse, and white duck swallowing the frog, the frog and the mouse went to France. I think this is a much better way to end the story for children. I think it is a really good fit for young children. Young children love songs and animals, so it could not be more perfect. I would definitely use this book in my class to teach my children about the animals in the book. A lot of times, children do not necessarily learn much about animals like moths, bugs, raccoons, fleas, ants, and flies. I think this is a great book to introduce these types of animals to young children, but in a funny way. I am sure that all young children will really enjoy this book. The first thing I noticed in the illustrations was the incredible focus on texture. I really feel like I could pet the cat, and feel the bumblebee. I believe the illustrator uses pen and ink because the detail is so fine. The bright colors are very enjoyable, but I am not sure why the illustrator goes back and forth between pages from bright colors, to just grays and greens. The lines are so distinct that I feel like I could pull each animal off of the page they seem so real. I believe the illustrations follow a Surrealism style of art because they are definitely beyond the real and imaginative. The double page spreads throughout the book are fascinating. I feel like I can see the artwork come to life as I scan across the page. The single page spreads are also used very nicely. I enjoy the fact that each illustration goes exactly with the words, and whichever animal the children are reading about. This allows the children to really focus on what they are looking at and hearing. They are not trying to listen to a long passage as well as a lot going on in the illustration. Instead, if the children are hearing how the raccoon is waving a silver spoon, they are looking at a bright, colorful drawing of a raccoon waving a silver spoon. This makes it a lot easier on the children who are first being introduced to books as well as those who have a long history with them.

[Maddison Thomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frog Went A-Courtin’ by John Langstaff and illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky is a Caldecott Recipient. This book is actually based off of a song that was sung to children in Scotland more than 400 years ago. In this version of the story, the mouse and frog live and travel to France, although an alternative ending is commonly associated with it. The illustrations in this book are very enjoyable, as they depict so many different animals to young readers, but with human-like characteristics. For this reason, I would describe the illustrations as surreal. The animals’ large eyes, shoes, clothing, and jobs add together to form an imagination creation of what animals are like. It seems as though Rojankovsky uses both pen and pencil, due to the fine details and textures that are easy to see on every page. This is one of my favorite mediums because of the textures and dimensions that are visibly available to readers. For this reason, I feel that the illustrations in this book may even be beneficial for an art class in middle or high school to help see how a simple pencil can form such complex and diverse drawings. Also, the backgrounds of each page are white, something similar to a lot of art classes, so it would only enforce this idea of simplicity to complexity even more with the students. These basic background also allows for the colors and pictures to stand out, focusing more attention on them than anything else. Looking closely at the characters, the reader is able to see so many faces and expressions, some happy, excited, playful, or even scared at the end. This helps early readers gather what exactly is going on for the characters and enables them to sympathize with the different animals in the story. I also really enjoyed how the author included the description of the story in the front of the book, as well as the song that it was inspired from in the back. This would make for a fun ending for a class of students.

[Alexis Beaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Frog Went a-Courtin'" was a fun book that uses really good colors and illustrations to tell the story. It won the Caldecott Medal in the year 1956, one year after it was published. Overall, I enjoyed this book mostly because of the rhyme from the text and the great illustrations. Because the author made the words rhyme, it allowed the book to become much more kid friendly, and even allows the words to become a song, which is stated at the beginning of the book that the words are a lot of the times told to children by being sung to them.
When I opened to the first page of the book, I honestly was not very impressed with the illustrations just because of the color. It was very dull and did not pop very much. However, I turned to the second page and my eyes got much bigger. The illustrations were so vibrant and colorful and I was very impressed. As I went on throughout the book, I really enjoyed how each page flipped back and forth between the vibrant and non vibrant coloring. The illustrations are all folk drawings that look very simple but are also very detailed at the same time. This story was written hundreds of years ago, therefore the illustrator most likely created the drawings to match the nature of the story and time period. The book does not specifically say the medium used, but to the eye it looks like drawings.
Overall, this would be a good book to use at any story time, or for kids in a music classroom, since it was originally being told by singing the words. I think kids would enjoy the illustrations because of the animals, and because they aid in telling the story so well. I think overall the most noticeable thing about the book, however, is the use of colors from page to page.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The frog in this book is a cowboy that wants to marry a mouse. So, he calls upon her and proposes to her. The Frog shows up at Miss Mouse's home and pulls her into his lap and proposes to her. From the illustrations it’s easy to tell that Mistress Mouse is horrified that Frog would ask her to marry him without her Uncle’s permission. Which is apparently the way that the frog is supposed to do things. The book has a 19th century feel to it. Back in time to when women needed the approval of their guardian or father to marry. Then it moves along and there’s all these other animals that show up to the wedding, all with different talents of jobs. Which speaks to modern weddings and everything that goes into throwing one. For example to cake, music, flowers, etc.

My thoughts: I think that this is such a cute book that incorporates aspects of modern marriage/weddings and early history marriage/wedding when the man had to ask for permission of the father/guardian of his intended bride before he could ask that women to marry him. It's especially a fun read because it's a marriage between a frog and a mouse which just seems kind of crazy but fun.

Use in the Classroom: I would use this book as a read-aloud book and also add it to my classroom library for students to read whenever they want and/or if they want to read it.

[Nicole Grote · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, a frog goes to ask a mouse to marry him. You then see the process of them trying to get married. You see the frog asking the mouse’s father for permission. Then you see the couple planning the wedding and people arriving and then the wedding being crashed by a cat. I think the thing that really stands out in this book are the illustrations. They are very well done and intricate, many different colors were used. The pages also alternate from a darker green and black to bright colors of different varieties. I would like to think that holds some kind of significance but I can’t wrap my brain around what it might be and it really bothers me that I can't figure it out. The amount of detail is also something readers can appreciate. I personally noticed that one of the beetles had MDMDMD written on its back which clearly shows that the beetle in the story must be a doctor. Which I thought was very funny and clever. Overall, I thought this book was decent but it wasn't necessarily my favorite. It's a good book if you just want to read your students or child something fun and light hearted. But if you are looking for a book with a deeper meaning to use for a particular lesson, this book might not be what you're looking for.

[Chelsea Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: This story is a Caldecott Award winner (1938-1959), and has a really cool background to the story itself, its a story-telling song that was written over 400 years ago in Scotland. It has very colorful illustratrions that provide a clear example of what is going on for every page. And overall a great choice if you want audience participation.

Content Areas: I would definetly use this when beginning to teach students rhythm and dictation in a music classroom. The story follows a specific rhythm, but is used repeatedly throughout the story. And then I would assign each student a page from the story, and ask that they depict what the text or "lyrics" are and then create a class illustrated song-book.

Comprehension:
Q: Why do you think Miss Rat had to ask Uncle Rat for consent to marry?
A: Because he was her fatherly figure and traditional, and she wanted to make sure it was okay with him.

Q: What is something you found interesting about the history of this book?
A: That it was put together with stories from different parts of the world.

Wonders:
1. Why did a frog want to marry a rat?
2. Did the cat eat anybody?

[Julivete Skelton · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the beginning of the story, I was a bit confused. Although this book is a Caldecott winner, the illustrations did not appeal to me. The illustrations were probably more appealing for the time that the book was published. It is also good to note that is folk story that rhymes so that may have very well been the reason why I was confused. I would more so recommend this book for very young children because of it’s likeness towards a nursery. This book is about a frog that sets on a journey to marry a Miss Mouse but she tells him that he needs to get her Uncle Rat’s consent. Uncle Rat asks Miss Mouse details of the wedding like where will it be, who will make the dress. The illustrations were very detailed and colorful but without the text, you would not be able to understand the storyline. I did not particularly enjoy this book.

[Nicole Quijada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frog Went A-Courtin’ is a fun book which can also be sung! This book is about a frog who wants to marry a mouse, but can only do so once he gets the mouse’s uncle rat’s consent. He gets his consent, and then all the different animals help to put the wedding together from the tablecloth to the cake, everyone pitches in. Suddenly, a cat appears looking as in it messes up the whole wedding but instead the mouse and the frog romance ends with them happy and relaxing together in France. I really enjoyed this book. It would be a lot of fun to read in front of a classroom of students or even with the students. The illustrations are also great with bright colors that go with all the fun this book has incorporated. Although this is a very old picture book, I think it is still a great book for any kid.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

As they say in the introduction to this book, the story/ballad of "The Frog and the Mouse" was brought from Great Britain to America. I remember hearing it as a kid and could sing along to some of it, but I had never heard the full version. The basic story is that a playboy frog goes to marry a country mouse, but needs the permission of her Uncle Rat first. He consents and everyone is invited, included a tom cat who breaks up the party and chases everyone away. I love the detailed folksy images by the illustrator Feodor Rojankovsky, primarily in green and black, but with splashes of color (yellow, red, blue and brown) every couple of pages. This book won the 1956 Caldecott Award. Recommended for ages 2-7, 3 stars.