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Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
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Summary
Summary
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
("A Midsummer Night's Dream" -- William Shakespeare)
Stand aside, Mr. Darcy. Keep walking, Rhett Butler. There's a new romantic hero in town. And, though he may not have all the ladies in the valley swooning with desire, he sure knows how to pitch the woo.
Iza Trapani does it once again in this favorite song about a lovesick frog and his search for the perfect missus with her exquisitely charming and truly funny illustrations that explore the lighter side of romance. Even Jane Austen would have to bow to this most amiable and irresistible story. After all, you might have to kiss a frog to find a prince.
Author Notes
Iza Trapani is the best-selling author/illustrator of several children's books, including TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR; I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT; THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER; and RUFUS AND FRIENDS: RHYME TIME. She lives in the Hudson Valley of New York.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Trapani has made quite a career out of taking beloved children's songs and extending the story with humor and fun to spare. Her latest offering takes "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" to its logical conclusion. First Mousie turns down his proposal: "I don't want a frog to hold and squeeze,/Oh no, oh no./I don't like the water, you hate cheese,/So you might as well get off your knees,/Oh no, oh no." Then, in turn, he is rejected by Turtle, Birdie, and Chipmunk. A spread shows the dejected suitor alone in bed reading The Lonely Frog. The next page (and day), he espies a vision by the creek: a lovely frog. She asks him to marry her and he joyfully croaks, "I'll marry you!" The next spread shows the happy pair tying the knot with Froggie's former love interests as bridesmaids. Trapani's joyous and bright watercolors are perfectly wedded to the cheerful new version of this Scottish song. A page with the music and all of the verses is handy for a sing-along. A great addition to any library, especially for storyhours.-Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this cleverly re-imagined version of the 400-year-old Scottish folk song, wife-hungry Froggie doesn't have a sword and pistol by his side, but his heart is definitely on his sleeve. Trapani (The Itsy Bitsy Spider) focuses her new lyrics solely on Froggie's attempts at wooing, and sets the goings-on in a vaguely Edwardian era a period that dovetails nicely with the gentlemanly demeanor of her hero. In Trapani's sentimental, pastel-hued watercolors, Froggie's a dapper dresser and an earnest (not to mention chocolates-bearing) suitor. But he makes the mistake of picking four non-amphibians in a row as potential mates (the fetching Mousie of the traditional song, then Turtle, Birdie and Chipmunk), and not even the flowery garlands that enclose the lyrics can blunt the harshness of the ladies' rejections. Says Birdie: "I would think about it if you flew,/ But you smell of swamp; you're slimy too./ No thanks, no thanks." The middle, text-less spread of the book finds Froggie in the dumps and disconsolately reading a book titled "The Lonely Frog" in bed. But his luck changes the next day when he spots "a vision by the creek" a lovely lady frog, who, in a nice feminist turn, pops the question to him. The couple's sunlit formal wedding, with all the former woo-ees as bridesmaids, is the very definition of Happily Ever After. Music for the song is included on the last page. Ages 2-7. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved