Foreword In the arms of his mother or on his father's knee, the child is introduced for the first time to sound and rhythm of the human voice, to the driving force of rhythmic language, the sound of elemental music instruments. The inclination towards and the affection for music often has its roots in the play-like atmosphere of traditional nursery rhymes. They also may be considered as first "studies" or "Etudes" in speaking and rhythmic movement. They spark the imagination with pictures which expand the view to a wider horizon. The traditional rhymes in this volume were collected in Australia. They come from those families who immigrated to Australia from Europe during the last one and a half centuries. In this volume there are elaborate settings for speaking voices and instruments. The settings represent but one possibility out of many. They show how to play with these texts. They should not be studied systematically note for note nor even sight read. It is intended that these settings give ideas for other possibilities in creative work with children using these and other texts, including instruments - without forgetting that their primary aim is to stimulate action. Hermann Regner

Contents
No.	Title	page
1	A farmer went trotting	5
2	Ickle, ockle	8
3	Jack be nimble	10
4	Doctor Foster	13
5	Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater	16
6	Little Tommy Tittlemouse	18
7	Tommy Snooks and Bessie Brooks	22
8	Gregory Griggs	24
9	Pat-a-cake	27
10	Hickety, Pickety, my black hen	32
11	Humpty Dumpty	34
12	Diddle Diddle Dumpling	36
13	One, two, buckle my shoe	38
14	Wee Willie Winkie	40
15	Rub-a-dub-dub	44
16	Higglety-Pigglety-pop	47
17	To market, to market	49

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