Review of "Billy" by Elizabeth Howes

[Stephen Whiteside]

This review of "Billy" by Elizabeth Howes was first published in "Park Watch", the magazine of the Victorian National Parks Association, in June 2014.

It is reproduced here with her permission.


“’The Billy That Died With Its Boots On’ and Other Australian Verse”

I once taught a poetry unit to a Year 3 class. We discussed the various elements of poetry and verse, and the students wrote their own poems. But the most entertaining part was the reading and performing aloud. Here’s a book which is perfect for that.

The Billy… is a collection of Australian verse by Stephen Whiteside, a GP in one life and a poet in another (see Park Watch March 2014). In the introduction, he recalls his father reading Banjo Paterson and C. J. Dennis poems aloud to him: “The poems almost sounded musical…they were at their best when read aloud”. Most of the poems use ballad rhythm – compare Paterson’s ‘The Man From Ironbark’ – though a few limericks feature as well.

The subjects are wide-ranging and very Australian, including the beach, the snow, and the quirks of everyday suburban life. Some are light-hearted: dropping a piece of onion from a sausage on your shoe, or an ice cream falling off a cone.

Others are serious, emotional and suspenseful, such as escaping a bushfire, written from a child’s point of view. The poem on Ned Kelly won a special award last year. The illustrations are delightful.

My favourites are ‘Two Little Raindrops’ (who fall in love, become separated and reunite in the Southern Ocean); ‘Weather Report’, which rolls satisfyingly off the tongue (“Today it’s fine/At Jindabyne/It’s very dry/At Gundagai/Cold and bitter/Mitta Mitta/ Still a chill/At Marysville; and ‘If I was a Sailor’, written in an evocative sea shanty style.

This collection will give children and adults hours of read-aloud and educational entertainment, and develop a love of Australia’s country and culture.