Written by the New Zealand author Edith Howes this work was first published in 1916. According to the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature (1998) the work was 'a landmark attempt to provide children with sex education'. The work was translated into French, Italian and Danish and published in the United States, Britain and Australia. The Cradle Ship was adapted for Australian children by the Father and Son Welfare Movement of Australia and the illustrations, originally by Florence Mary Anderson, were replaced with illustrations of fairies and Australian animals by Pixie O'Harris.
