This volume is based on 30 years of collecting and research, and traces the histories of singing games such as ring a ring o' roses and oranges and lemons. It is an exposition both of the workings of folklore and of the play habits of young children. Each game is described in detail with reference to its history and its present form. Fashionable in the Middle Ages, frowned upon in the 16th century, and suppressed in the 17th, the singing game is now generally considered to belong to the past. The Opies' research show that the tradition is continuing. The book is illustrated throughout with photographs and prints and includes words to each game, with music for many. Iona and Peter Opie have also written The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book, Children's Games in Street and Playground, The Oxford Book of Children's Verse, A Nursery Companion and The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse.