'To the little children of Australia, these song-stories are lovingly dedicated by the authors'. The authors argue that 'a need of the right kind of songs had made itself felt - songs which should be simple, sweet, wholesome, and which, above all, should be typical of Australia. Its was possible to obtain many books of children's songs, but these were mostly of English, American and German authorship, and it was necessary to change and adapt words in most of the songs before they could be used..the trees, birds, flowers and seasons of the Northern Hemisphere are alike unfamiliar, hence unreal to the Australian child.'
