Twinkle, Twinkle, Southern Cross: The forgotten folklore of Australian nursery rhymes by Holden, Robert - 1992

Canberra: National Library of Australia (NLA), 1992. Paperback oblong small quarto, very good plus condition, black & white drawings, colour plates, spine minimally faded as common, minor edgewear. 99 pp. Robert Holden provides a combination of scholarship and entertainment as he wanders many a crooked mile through the made-to-order folklore of Australia's own nursery rhymes. There is a new constellation of nursery characters to add to the more traditional figures. Examples from as early as 1854 and extending to the present day are looked at in a wide-ranging context of Australian literary and publishing history, the growth of nationalism, and the welfare and education of young Australians. Published with the assistance of the Morris West Trust Fund.