The Sun's Babies

A charming window into a vanished world of Edwardian imagination. Eighty-four tiny tales and poems populate a realm where snowdrops sleep in cradles beneath the earth, apple fairies tend orchards, and spiders host teaparties in garden corners. The Sun-Man opens the collection as a benevolent patriarch, boasting of all his "babies" who flourish in his warmth: the flowers, the insects, the cherry children hanging in red-capped clusters. Each story pulses with gentle life: Dickie Codlin hums his way toward transformation, the Cherry Children await their harvest fate with quiet dignity, and tiny plays unfold where white waves become actors in seaside dramas. These are not tales that rush toward climax. They are what remains when a New Zealand teacher in the early twentieth century transformed her garden into a commonwealth of animated blooms, each with their own personality and patience. The seasonal stories that close the book carry children through spring's awakening to winter's sleep, teaching the quiet virtue of waiting for one's time. Perfect for reading aloud on a cold afternoon, these stories ask nothing of children except wonder.