The Tree House Poems
- Kirsten Edwards
- Mar 16, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 6
Author: James K. Baxter
James K. Baxter is New Zealand’s most celebrated poet. Google his name and you’ll see stark black-and-white images: a wild beard, unkempt hair, the archetypal rebel who died in 1972 at just 46, living in a riverside commune and championing the poor. That’s the Baxter most remembered; the firebrand who railed against society.
Yet in his twenties, long before the beard and the controversies, he was a schoolteacher in the Hutt Valley. Faced with a lively class of seven- to nine-year-olds who were far more interested in teaching him the art of living than in sitting still for lessons, Baxter needed a strategy. As he explains in the book’s introduction:
"Some years ago, I was working as a teacher at a school in the Hutt Valley. The ages of the children in my class ranged from seven to nine... and while they were lively, sociable children, patiently ready to instruct any adult in the art of living, they were not so patient with my own attempts to instruct them in other matters. My sympathy lay with them; but there were 'problems of control'... Some answer had to be found; and these jingles, rhymes, and poems made to be spoken, were part of a possible answer."
The poems worked. After Baxter left teaching, they gathered dust until, near the end of his life, his publisher urged him to revisit them. Revised and published posthumously in 1974 as The Tree House, this slim volume reveals a gentler, playful Baxter.
The Book, The Tree House is divided into three sections of increasing complexity:
Grasshopper Green
John and Judith and Billy and Me
Where Rivers Tumble
Language and length grow with each part, making the collection ideal for progressing readers or for reading aloud to younger children.
The poems are pure delight: witty, rhythmic, and steeped in the New Zealand landscape: beaches, bush, backyard adventures. They roll off the tongue like “delicious thought lollies” and linger in the mind.
Editions & Availability
Original 1974 edition: A modest paperback with glue binding and a plain card cover. Not built to last, but widely available in second-hand bookshops (often mis-shelved in adult poetry rather than children’s).
Recommended alternative: James K. Baxter’s Poems (selected and illustrated by Eleanor Fearn). This picture-book edition includes 18 poems with stunning full-colour artwork. Higher production quality; snap it up if you see it.
Don’t let Baxter’s later reputation put you off. These are poems of innocence, wonder, and childhood joy, written not to provoke, but to enchant. They capture the essence of growing up in Aotearoa with humour and heart.
Highly recommended for reading aloud to children aged 6+, or for confident readers 8+. A perfect introduction to New Zealand poetry, and proof that even rebels can write with tenderness.
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