A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go

With a little help from a friend, the frog goes a-wooing with a music-making rat he meets on the road. The target, of course, is Mistress Mousey. She welcomes them, offers them beer and pleads for a songbut she ends up singing. A cat and her kittens jump into the room through the window: the rat is seized by the cat and Mousey by the kittens. Froggie flees, but he is soon gobbled up by a white duck. Apparently, this is a match made in heaven, because that is where the merry-makers show up next. This ditty doesn't often show up in picture books, so this lively version is most welcome. Amidst his racy watercolors, Stobbs uses photos of white flowers and a bouquet of roses to create blossoms of collage. But because he sticks so close to the themes of the text, readers who view his pictures carefully may wonder if all of life is one long game of bait-and-hook. Ages 3-6. (April)