The cradle ship, by New Zealand children's author Edith Howes, was an early way of educating children about human reproduction through stories about 'the birds and the bees'. It was first published in 1916, reprinted every few years, and still in circulation in the 1950s.
When their new baby brother arrives, Win and Twin want to know where babies come from. Their parents take them in a magical cradle ship to Babyland, where they learn about how plants, birds, animals and people reproduce. They find out that babies grow in 'a silken baby-bag' beneath their mothers' hearts and that fathers as well as mothers are needed to bring up children. While Win and Twin find out that all babies begin as 'a tiny egg', they do not learn anything about the place of sexual intercourse in human reproduction.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Reference:
Edith Howes, Cradle Ship, London: Cassell and company, 1916
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