WHO KILLED COCKATOO?

Of interest as the text of ""one of the earliest children's picture books written, printed, and published in Australia,"" this variation on the familiar rhyme about Cock Robin brings in a good many Australian species and references (""Who'll bear him to his tomb?/I, said the Platypus,/On my back gently thus""). Though not outstanding as verse, it serves well as inspiration for the flat, brilliantly colored, fabric-patterned, somber-eyed beasts with which McRae decorates these pages. A handsome book, probably of most interest to adults--although some children will respond to the mystery, the unusual graphics, or the dark humor.