Jeanne Pitre Soileau traces "When I Was a Baby" through its many permutations, from its earliest appearance in folklore to variations uploaded to YouTube and introduces the varied folklorists who collected it through its history. As the years go by, the anonymous child poets who keep it alive, keen observers of change, spice it up with new vocabulary, new pantomimes, and incorporate into it more piquant social commentary. Part folklore study, part memoir, A Singing Game also explores Soileau's journey of becoming, through trial and error, a specialist in south Louisiana child lore. Altogether, A Singing Game is an important addition to the children's folklore canon.