The man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson. Ed. byKathryn England. Illus. by Cate James

A small sturdy board book, The man from Snowy River is one of a pair of books published by Penguin, introducing young children to the two favourite Australian poems, the other being Waltzing Matilda.

Snowy River presents an abridged version the poem, the text on left side of the page, an illustration on the facing page. Bright, breezy illustrations by Cate James support the text, and kids will love the rollicking rhythm of the poem as it is read aloud.

An added observational prod is given as a quest is asked on each page, encouraging the readers to look for the number of animals or other detail on each page. Numbers one to ten appear, asking children to look for five green grasshoppers, or ten yellow billy buttons, for example.

Children will be entranced by the colour and fun of searching for the numbers, as well as the story of the poem. Older readers will go to the original poem to read it for themselves. The book introduces young readers to a classic Australian poem and is presented with colourful illustrations of the Australian landscape.

Themes: Environment, Poetry, Classic Australian poetry, Brumbies.

Fran Knight