 The title itself refers to "The Children's Bach", a collection edited by Australian music educator E. Harold Davies.The collection consists of 20 simple Bach pieces for piano, selected mostly from the Clavier-Book for Anna Magdalena.While Garner's first novel, "Monkey Grip" (1977), met with a mixed reception in Australia initially, "The Children's Bach" was instantly better received and reviewed; Goldsworthy writes that it was "met with almost universal critical approval".