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 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 good book. ( )