{"id":6363,"date":"2008-04-07T22:10:53","date_gmt":"2008-04-08T02:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pioneergirl.com\/blog\/?p=6363"},"modified":"2016-01-26T18:59:39","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T23:59:39","slug":"frogs-at-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pioneergirl.com\/blog\/archives\/6363","title":{"rendered":"Frogs at School"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poem by George Cooper<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

There was one book that we asked her to get again and again, until we nearly knew it by heart. We did learn to repeat from it one whole poem… – Pioneer Girl<\/em><\/p>\n


\nF<\/span>ROGS AT SCHOOL<\/p>\n

     
\nTwenty froggies went to school,
\nDown beside a rushy pool.
\nTwenty little coats of green;
\nTwenty vests, all white and clean.
\n\u201cWe must be in time,\u201d said they:
\n\u201cFirst we study, then we play;
\nThat is how we keep the rule,
\nWhen we froggies go to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Master Bullfrog, grave and stern,
\nCalled the classes in their turn;
\nTaught them how to nobly strive,
\nLikewise how to leap and dive;
\nFrom his seat upon a log,
\nShowed them how to say, \u201cKer-chog!\u201d
\nAlso how to dodge a blow
\nFrom the sticks which bad boys throw.<\/p>\n

Twenty froggies grew up fast;
\nBullfrogs they became at last;
\nNot one dunce among the lot,
\nNot one lesson they forgot;
\nPolished in a high degree,
\nAs each froggie ought to be:
\nNow they sit on other logs,
\nTeaching other little frogs.<\/p>\n

     
\nIn Pioneer Girl<\/em>, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that while living near Walnut Grove, they used to borrow books from the Sunday School library. They read them many times, until she and Mary knew them nearly by heart. Laura included some partial verses in her manuscript, part of the \u201cFrogs at School\u201d poem above.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrogs at School\u201d was written by George Cooper, and it appeared as a new poem in an 1874 issue of The Nursery<\/em>, a magazine for young readers. Published from 1867-1880, The Nursery<\/em> contained page after page of stories, poems, and illustrations (the issue containing \u201cFrogs at School\u201d was over 200 pages). It also appeared in Webster\u2019s Little Folks\u2019 Speaker<\/em> in 1875, a book of pieces for memorization and recitation. If Laura learned the poem in Walnut Grove, she may have read it in one of these publications.<\/p>\n

George Cooper (1840-1927) was an American poet and writer. He studied law at the office of Chester A. Arthur (U.S. President, 1881-1885), although he didn’t continue to practice law long after being admitted to the bar. He was quite successful as a writer of poems for children, and his works appeared in many school textbooks and magazines during the Little House years.<\/p>\n

     
\n
\n“Twenty Froggies” poem<\/strong> (PG)
\n     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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