Six of Baxter's poems for children in one volume (they were originally published in 1979 by Price Milburn in separate booklets) with their original illustrations.
James Keir Baxter was a poet, and is a celebrated figure in New Zealand society.
In his critical study Lives of the Poets, Michael Schmidt defines Baxter's 'Jacobean consonantal rhetoric'.Schmidt has claimed that Baxter was 'one of the most precocious poets of the century' whose neglect outside of New Zealand is baffling. His writing was affected by his alcoholism. His work drew upon Dylan Thomas and Yeats; then on MacNeice and Lowell. Michael Schmidt identifies 'an amalgam of Hopkins, Thomas and native atavisms' in Baxter's 'Prelude N.Z.
I love this book! It is beautifully produced as a hardback with a clever use of fonts. It is reminiscent of the Janet and John books which gives it a very nostalgic feel of the good old days when children still enjoyed playing in tree houses with nary a television in sight! I'm sure it will appeal to young children and give them a great start to appreciating the richness of poetic language.