Over the River and Through the Wood

I just bought this book for my 2nd grade music classes because I've been using a copy from the library for the last 3 years, and my students all LOVE this book. The pictures have a story unto themselves: a family is driving by the Macy's parade as they leave town for their grandparents' house, the baby crawls out the window during a traffic jam, gets tossed about through the parade, rides some balloons, and ends up safely delivered to Grandmother's house just in time for the family to arrive and eat a traditional dinner together... except the baby steals the pumpkin pie. Kids just shriek with laughter when they aren't busy singing, and (most important to their music teacher) they remember the song later because they had such fun learning it. They beg to read this book again and again, but I only do it at Thanksgiving, so it's a big treat. ;-) Many thanks to the illustrator.

We play and sing this winter song, and adore the illustrations. I love a classic book for our home library!

I used to sing this song in grade school many, many years ago. This book recounts the poem in illustrated format and features the music on the last page. A welcome addition to every home's library. Sing it while on the way to Grandmother's House.

I ordered the board book so got the traditional poem with woodcut illustrations. It was obviously set up north so I wasn't bothered by the ice fishing or skating or even the sailing, although it was a little weird for winter but people do have to eat and travel. The different illustrations show the different scenes the family is passing by on their way to their grandparents house. It would be boring to just show a sleigh in the woods. The board book was larger than a typical board book so I was pleasantly surprised by how well we could see the illustrations.

This is our second copy of this book—my two-year-old completely wore out the first one. Although I understand how the traditional poem and these illustrations would have appeal for adults, I never imagined they would capture the heart of a toddler. But she wants the book read to her multiple times each day, and singing the song now delights her, with or without the book/illustrations.

My grandchild asks me to, “Sing that song again!” and again. I am so excited to read this beautiful book to him!

When my kids were little ( they are adults now) they loved reading this book at Thanksgiving time. I bought another one to give to a friend who has a little girl and hopefully she will love reading it as well.

cute story

Beautiful pictures and my kids loved singing the story

Sehr schönes Buch mit tollen Zeichnungen. Mein kleiner hat viel spaß diesen Lied mit mir zu singen in der vor-Thanksgiving Zeit. Es handelt sich nur um den Text - keine Noten - aber der Melodie ist ja einfach genug.

Absolutely beautiful! Breath-taking illustrations with a New England mood. My 3 year old loves it and we sing the book instead of reading it.