Tom, Tom the piper’s son,
Stole a pig and away he run.
Tom got caught, the pig got away,
And Tom went sailing to Botany Bay.
There is no doubt that kids enjoy hearing silly poetry – the sillier, the better. And Father Koala’s Nursery Rhymes is full of silliness.
Australian versions of popular nursery rhymes fill the pages, with Three Fat Chooks (instead of Three Blind Mice), Here We Go ‘Round the Banksia Bush, Swaggie Put the Billy On and many more. The comic illustrations of Glen Singleton complement the humour of the rhymes and, in many instances, outshine it.
This is not great literature, but is something children will enjoy.
Father Koala’s Nursery Rhymes, by Kel Richards, illustrated by Glen Singleton
Scholastic, first published 1992, this edition 2005