Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson

"A handsome gift edition of Banjo Patersons ballads about the bush"--Publisher.

Because of a Sydney barber's joke on one of their men, long beards become the fashion in a small Australian settlement.

Mulga Bill turns away his good old horse and gets a bicycle, much to his regret.

Color illustrations of the Australian bush accompany the poem which, sung to the tune of an old English marching song, has become practically an Australian national anthem.

A collection of poems about such Australian animals as Weary Will the Wombat, Old Man Platypus, and Benjamin Bandicoot.

In the ballads and poetry of Banjo Paterson are captured the spirit of the Australian Outback, and the essences of the bushmen and women who pioneered it. The vast distances, the droughts, the floods, the flies, the heat ... and the harsh and beautiful places of Outback Australia were brought to the city people of the late 1880's through the writings of Andrew Barton Paterson.A true folk poet, a recorder and publisher of Australian Bush Songs, Banjo brought the legendary magic of the Australian bush into the household, the schools and the government. His mythical ballad Waltzing Matilda would be described as Australia's unofficial national anthem, and there is no doubt he contributed much to Australia's heritage.The Man from Snowy River, tells the story of a young mountain lad, mounted on a small mountain pony, who rides out with the experienced stockmen in pursuit of a runaway horse. Because of his size, and the size of his pony he is first rediculed, but when the wild bush horses take to the wild and rugged mountain tracts, he and his pony grow in stature ....

The posh, English daughter of an Australian pastoralist is sent to Kuryong station to learn the ropes. At the same time, a search is underway across the desolate innards of regional New South Wales for the lost son of a wealthy uncle. These stories collide to give a humorous take on the values of family, marriage and hard work, set in the beautiful backdrop of the Australian Outback. This was Banjo Paterson’s first novel after a string of widely celebrated poems written in the late 1800s.

The bush poet, Australia's chronicler of lives past, folklore in written form. Pioneering days, bravery and foolishness, friends and foes are put into poems from an Australia from long ago but still alive. From the classics of Australian literacy, the man simply known as 'the Banjo' is the preeminent balladeer of all. Listen to the rhythm and be taken up in the spirit of the underdog, the man who has to prove his worth in the Man from Snowy River, the story of Mulga Bill and his bicyle being a tale of pride and falls. So many classic verses that every Australian should know by heart as it is the beating heart of Australia's history in rhyme.

Time spent reading this book will be time spent with old, familiar friends. There is a warmth, richness and humour about the poems of Banjo Paterson that has endeared them to generations of Australian- s. "The Man from Snowy River", "Mulga Bill's Bicycle" and "The Geebung Polo Club" are as well known to today's schoolchildren as they are to their parents and grandparents. The words of "Waltzing Matilda" have, of course, become recognised in every part of the world as Australia's "own" song.

255p.