Willard's poems in this award-winning volume, while attractively spiritual and child-like, are never childish. That is, they tend to avoid cloying sentimentality and contrived whimsy, more often portraying the intelligent and visually allusive mind of a child as it actually is, rather than as condescending adults might imagine it. Willard's tone is compassionate and sensitive, consistently respecting the feelings, dignity, and good sense of the poet's young audience.