The big book of Australian nursery rhymes by Frane Lessac

Such a seemingly simple idea but what great fun for young and not so young alike. I laughed out loud at many of the pages and cannot get the galahs squawking all day long out of my head. I can imagine lots of adults and teachers reading this aloud with kids joining in with lots of noise and physical gusto. 

Twenty nine nursery rhymes, including Jack and Jill, It’s raining, Incy wincy spider to name a few, are given an Australian makeover in this interactive brightly illustrated book. Kids will fall about laughing at the changes made by Lessac to well known tales joining in with actions, movement and noise. 

So we find a numbat sleeping in its log after bumping its head the night before, a pygmy possum picking a peck of pickled pollen, a puggle that wants to play but it's raining, a dolphin going out to sea, verses about the jumping frog and rushing around the banksia bush, Jack and Jill jumping up that hill because they are kangaroos. Each verse is great fun and evokes responses from the audience as they join in, and of course there are all those squawking galahs. 

Wonderfully bright energetic illustrations adorn each page, encouraging the readers to recognise the animals shown, then joining in with the reading, sing along with those they know, ponder the animals shown and recognise the nursery rhyme it parodies. 

Three content pages at the beginning of the book list the verses within, while an introduction shows how the book evolved, while both endpapers set the scene with eucalyptus leaves adorned with eye catching pink flowers. 

This is a lovely interactive book that kids will love to read with someone and try out for themselves. 

Themes: Verse, Australian animals, Parody, Nursery rhymes, Humour.

Fran Knight