Seeds in the Wind

In an enormous undertaking, Braybrooke has compiled selections from the childhood writings of noted British and American poets and authors to produce this unique anthology. Including poems by W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield and T. S. Eliot; stories by Wyndham Lewis, H. G. Wells and Evelyn Waugh; and essays by Sylvia T o wnsend, Beatrix Potter and E. M. Forster, the collection reveals the personalities and backgrounds of the writers, while displaying their childhood interests in nature, romance, war and adventure. Their powers of observation, command of language, vivid imaginations and poetic sense of form can be felt in many selections; however, the book's merit does not necessarily lie in the artistry of individual works, but rather in their relationships to these writers' later works--indicated in the editor's notes. The dark mood of a Sylvia Plath verse composed at age 16 reflects the tone of poems written in adulthood. A description of a bird by 10-year-old Virginia Woolf foreshadows the creation of To the Lighthouse . Offering an informative introduction to the featured modern writers, this work will prove to be an invaluable source for young writers and students of literature. Ages 6-up. (Sept.)