No One Went To Town

May #1

by Phyllis Johnston, Christine Brown (Illustrator)

‘No one went to town’ is the exciting true story of May Tarrant and her family breaking in a farm in the high steep hills of Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand in the early 1900’s. It is the first much loved book in the ‘May’ series and was originally published in 1980 and was reprinted several times. In 2017, this book was reprinted.

Genres: Biography

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Phyllis Aileen Johnston (nee Webby) was a children's writer with a particular interest in New Zealand history. She was involved in literary organisations for many years, serving as president of Bookrapt (the Bay of Plenty Children's Literature Association) for over two decades, and then as patron. Her stories have appeared in numerous editions of the School Journal and she taught children’s writing at Waikato University. In 1998, Phyllis received the Betty Gilderdale Award for oustanding services to New Zealand children's literature. In 1999, she was the Writer In Residence of the South Auckland Children's Literature Association, and was awarded a project grant from Creative New Zealand. Her book Dead Dan's Dee was nominated in the Junior Fiction section for the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards.

Reviews

[Caroline Haught · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Zealand's answer to Laura Ingalls Wilder ' s Little House on the Prairie, this beautifully written book is an insight into the lives of New Zealand's pioneers. Based on the life of the author's mother, the book describes a year in the life of a colonial family. In the detail familiar to fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Johnston describes the intensive clearing of the land and sowing of grass needed to create land for farming as well as the day to day trials and triumphs - soap making, Christmas, bridge building, and tent making. Warmly told and rich in description, these books deserve a greater popularity than they currently enjoy. They should be on every NZ child's bookcase! I read these as child and now have had the utter joy of reading them to my 7 year old son. Alas, he's enjoyed the first so much that he couldn't wait for me to read him the second, and he's already started that on his own - I'll have to borrow it after him!

[Mia Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

great kiwi history book

[Nia Glain Chesswas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous and unique NZ historical stories. So glad they have been re-printed this year as they have been really hard to find.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored having these books read to me in primary school in the 80s. I trawled second hand bookshops for years in hope to discover them again. I was delighted to hear they were republished in 2021 so I bought the set online! (www.noonewenttotown.co.nz) Entertaining and fascinating true stories told from young May’s perspective of the adventures, challenges, fun, and heartbreak of her early pioneer family breaking in the land and building a home and life for themselves in the steep hills of Taranaki and later the King Country. Highly recommend!

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically the Taranaki Little House in the Big Woods. Very interesting from a historical/cultural perspective, kinda jarring how different the perspectives and values were! Hard to tell if the author holds the same beliefs?

The episodes were quite disconnected but that makes it more real-lifeish somehow.

[Rebecca Filbrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

It was very interesting reading about the settling of New Zealand.
It felt like reading the Little House on the Prairie books for New Zealand.
I forgot about the seasons being opposite of ours. In the beginning the little girl's birthday was in May and it was getting colder and freezing. And then Christmas was in the summer.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story of life in east Taranaki in the early 1900’s

This was a very well written book that told the story of a little girl and her family who were farming in East Taranaki.
I found it very interesting and evocative because my grandmother and her siblings spent several years living near Te Wera at around the same time. There was also family near Strathmore and Douglas.

[Ryan McArthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing history, they lived in a ponga log house (what? it was waterproof? must ahve been crumbly) and loads of interesting things happened. Dead keen to read the rest of the books.

[Linli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read for learning about a NZ pioneer family in the Taihore Hills

[E. Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A New-Zealand "Little House on the Prairie". A great read. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Kristy Hetzel]

Really interesting look at NZ pioneer history.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young child's eye view of early pakeha life in NZ in the Stratford area of the North Island. The main presenter , May was born in 1898 and appears to be around 6 or 7 years old in this part of the family's story. The family of 6 at first live in a ponga whare while cutting down trees, raising livestock, hunting , establishing fruit trees and a vegetable garden, making their own soap, bread etc. Life is a constant round of jobs especially when the men build a house with hand sawn timber and roof shingles. Various events and dramas make the story even more enlightening and interesting.Another couple come to settle the land next door and can be visited by hauling a cage across the river. Bridge builders arrive eventually and complete the bridge building in about 2-3 weeks. Phil, the next oldest child to May , maybe 9 years old , spears his eye with a knife and has to be taken on the long journey to a doctor by horse and then on to Wellington by train for further medical help. One of the older boys jumps from a roof with an umbrella to attempt flight and is lucky to escape with bruises. The mother bears a child with the help of just the neighbour woman [who hasn't had children herself as far as we know] and the child is born dead.
After a large burnoff and establishment of pasture they enter a ballot for land in Taranaki so sell the farm and the next book covers the period in town while the men earn money as builders in order to buy the next one. Various topics are covered like relationships with Maori, being a colonial like May and the neighbours[women do more robust work and wear slightly more suitable clothing], whereas her parents are English and think women should be more decorous; payment of taxes to the government, home schooling.
Mostly easily understandable by young children and with details on how things were made or how they washed clothing and bedding without a washing machine and spinner, whew. Some details seem outrageous to us now - like cutting down native forest, including rimu for the house and firewood; I knew it was hard compared with our way of life but this makes it real.

Note:this book was republished by the author's daughter (I.e. Self published) in 2017.

[Amy Paulussen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting novel about turn-of-the-century pioneer-life in NZ. Very day-in-the-life but lots of dramas do happen. It's just there's no over-arching story that really pulls me along. Maybe I'm just too old for it - it is a middle-grade novel - but I did enjoy the 5-year-old narrator, that limited understanding, and Johnston pulls it off: the reader understands more than the narrator. Lots of procedural stuff - how they made bread, how they built a house, how they got supplies, or crossed the river, or turned a lamb leg into a 'colonial goose' for christmas dinner... but interesting though all this is, it is a little research-heavy and feels like that's the driving force, rather than the plot. Still, I whipped through it and that's usually a good sign.

[Karen Dransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about NZ history. Settlers out in the bush surviving and making ends meet. It includes really good descriptions of what the family does, things like how they make soap, how they make bread, details about doing the daily chores and what life was like with no amenities. A good story to read to younger kids or as a self read for a young adult. First story in a series.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book about life in the early settlers days in New Zealand. A treasure of 'how things are made'... a vivid picture of the hardship and good times of these old days... Every school should read this to their children....

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phylis Johnson wrote fabulous books about places that I knew very well as a child set in the pioneering back blocks of the Waikato and Taranaki. I really want to go back and read them as an adult.

[Hester]

May and her brothers setting up a farm inland from Stratford - Tahora. Two more in this series to read later.

[Matiu Andrews-Cookson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing story about pioneering life in New Zealand and an absolute national treasure. The stories are real biographical accounts with heavy input from the protagonist, May Tarrant. I listened to it read out when I was a kid and it is just as good now, reading out to my kids. If you like Laura Ingalls-Wilder, there is a good chance you will like No One Went To Town. Take care with young children that the stories are less sanitized than Ingalls-Wilder and there are a few parts of the story than may not be suitable for children under 7.