This has been providing much mirth and merriment in the US for a few weeks now, but it's too good to ignore. Talisman Energy, a Canadian global oil and gas company valued at $25bn, has produced a 24-page colouring book for children explaining the merits of natural gas extraction.

The colouring book doesn't mention the term "fracking" – the nickname given to the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing – but a heavy hint comes when the children get to meet the main character:

"Hello, my name is Talisman Terry, your friendly Fracosaurus."

The colouring book is being aimed at children in Twin Tiers, a cluster of counties on the New York/Pennsylvania border where Talisman Energy has developed more than 100 wells over the past decade. There is currently an on-going tussle in the area between gas companies and regulators over the distribution of permits to drill.

To say that Talisman Terry puts a positive spin of the process used to extract natural gas would probably be an understatement:

I am here to teach you about a clean energy source called Natural Gas, found right here in the Twin Tiers! Natural Gas is a clean-burning fossil fuel. It is one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources.

Natural Gas is used to heat our homes, to cook our meals, to heat our water, and can even be used in special cars and buses.

Natural Gas comes directly to our homes through a gas pipeline. The gas company reads a gas meter on the outside of our house to see how much gas we use each month.

Because there is only so much gas under the ground, one day the well stops producing gas. At this time, the well is closed, and the land is reclaimed and returned to the way it was before Talisman came to drill.

But where does Natural Gas come from and how does it get to our homes?

Each well is different depending on how much gas is underneath the ground. Some wells may produce for a short period of time, while others may produce gas for many years.

The gas that fuels our homes is found deep beneath the surface of the earth by exploration companies like Talisman Energy USA.

Once the well begins producing natural gas, a gathering system is needed to collect it. Pipes are connected to capture the natural gas and deliver it to customers.

Over millions of years, heat and pressure below the earth's surface creates fossil fuels like natural gas from organic materials.

During the drilling process, you may see a lot of big equipment, including a drill rig, large trucks, and tanks of water.

Geologists study rocks and perform special tests to find the gas deep in the ground.

The well may be more than a mile deep when it is complete. That's equivalent to the height of 15 or more California Redwoods, the earth's tallest tree, stacked on top of each other.

Because natural gas is lighter than air, it will rise up to the earth's surface when it is set free from underground rocks.

The area where the well will be drilled is cleared, with the dirt saved so that it can be used later on to reclaim the land. This means it will look the same as before, once the well is no longer in use.

Once Talisman knows where the right kind of underground rock is, it works with the property owners to get permission to drill.

Talisman is not the first energy company to target children in this way. In 2008, Chesapeake Energy produced a colouring book featuring a cartoon dog called Chesapeake Charlie, who proclaimed: "Natural gas is clean, abundant, affordable and American."

And earlier this year, the children's publisher Scholastic pulled a fourth-grade teaching aid called "The United States of Energy" following negative publicity after is revealed that it was sponsored by the American Coal Foundation and, as the New York Times put it, "omitted mention of minor things like toxic waste, mountain-top removal and greenhouse gases".

Energy companies also "interact" with children here in the UK, too. BP, for example, produces a wide range of teaching aids with titles such as "Exciting Energy". But, to be fair, it offers far more in the way of balance, with plenty of literature offered on topics such as climate change and renewable energy.

One wider thought: those who like to claim that our schools are riddled (evidence, please) with "environmental propaganda" will now also presumably condemn such blatant attempts by energy corporations to target such "innocent minds"?