"Over in the meadow in the sands in the sun . . ." begins John Langstaff's endearing version of an old counting song for children, a lasting favorite for many generations. But never has it been presented in such gay and happy form. Feodor Rojankovsky's pictures are filled with the beauty and wonder of meadow life from earliest morning till the end of day. Wild flowers, grasses, trees and vines, animals and birds and insects, all come alive in color and line that capture the essential beauty of the natural world, which Mr. Rojankovsky has observed and sketched and painted since boyhood. Only an artist whose extraordinary devotion to the out-of-doors is matched by his extraordinary skill could portray “an old mother rabbit and her little bunnies ten" hopping in such appealing frolic, or “an old mother beaver and her little beavers six" building a dam with such industry.

This, then, is the delightful result of two very gifted artists’ work. The simple, charming melody and the amusing verses will give lasting pleasure to children and grownups whenever they gather round a piano or sing without accompaniment, while the tender, amusing, and colorful pictures will be long remembered and frequently revisited. Over in the Meadow is a perfect companion to Frog Went A- Courtin’, Mr. Langstaff and Mr. Rojankovsky’s first book, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1956.

From the dust jacket