Over in the Meadow 
John Langstaff with pictures by Feodor Rojankovsky/ published 1957 by Harcourt, Brace & World
I've owned a few versions of this story, but this is by far my favorite. I had John and Feodor's Frog Went A-Courtin' when I was little but only found this first edition recently at a library sale. It includes nine different verses of the tale along with music in the back.
Over in the meadow in a new little hive
Lived an old mother queen bee and her honeybees five.
"Hum," said the mother, "We hum," said the five;
So they hummed and were glad in their new little hive.
A paperback version is available from Voyager Books new I believe, and as far as I'm concerned this title is a must have for anyone who loves old kid's books. These illustrations are just marvelous and detailed... from the lace of the spiderwebs to the hearts of the blueberries growing underneath a toadstool... lot and lots to see on every reread.
And again the dedication gets me: For Deborah who loved this song about baby animals so much when she was two that she sang it wherever she went.
Also by:
Tall Book of Nursery Tales
The Golden Bible
2 comments:
Have you seen the Weston Woods video versions of this & Frog Went A-Courting? John L. sings on them and is SO GOOD.
Check out revels.org for CDs with him singing.
no... i'm gonna gave to check it out.
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