Froggie Went A-Courtin'

May 27, 2002
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.