And Did Those Feet ...

by Ted Dawe

Adventure, danger and mystery from the award-winning Ted Dawe.'The year mum died and Dad went mad I was packed off to a farm for a while.' The first sentence sets the scene for this tender and dramatic story. But this is no ordinary farm: our narrator's Aunt Lorna, Uncle Frank and five cousins belong to the Jerusalem League, a William Blake cult. Their house is unusual, in that the rooms are hexagons - six-sided - as are the doors and windows, the dinner table and plates. And you guessed it; they're bee-keepers. Our young narrator takes us through his initiation to farm life: chores and more chores, which he doesn't mind really, starting a new school and coping with the local bully, Noel Cudby, finding the perfect place: a swimming hole hidden in the bush, and making friends with Pimpernickle, the resident pig. It's here with Pimpernickle when we become aware of his loneliness: 'That pig is sure smart. I reckon he can tell my moods. When I'm feeling depressed, which is quite often to tell the truth, he comes over and stands next to me real close.' But when our storyteller goes off to school camp things turn from wet to wetter. Noah's flood is served up with a good serving of wind: the river rises and floods and the sorry lot of wet kids and a few parents are forced to head for higher ground. How will they cross the river and reach safe ground? Just what happens when they're rescued? A tender story told with humour and insight.

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Ted Dawe, who has had a long career as a teacher, stunned readers with his impressive first novel, Thunder Road – winner of the Best First Book Award and Senior Fiction category of the coveted New Zealand Post Children's and Young Adults Book Awards. His subsequent YA novel K Road was published to warm reviews.

Into the River won the supreme Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award at the 2013 NZ Post Children's Book Awards.

Ted lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where he teaches English to foreign students.

Reviews

[Stella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contrary to the cover design, this book has nothing to do with bees, or buddhist monks (I really thought...).

There were things I really liked about this book. I loved that Sandy's cousins lived in a quirky house. Having grown up in a rural area littered with quirky, hippy houses, it felt very familiar. I loved the camaraderie between the boys, although there was absolutely no character development of any of his cousins #dislike. I liked the interweaving of poems, that kinda thing always gets me.

A few things bugged me though. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how old Sandy was supposed to be. I assumed this was young adult, but he read as a 12/13 year old to me. Just beginning to think about girls, kinda. Still building forts and playing games with his cousins. Yet despite coming across so young, Sandy used words and phrases I would associate with a middle aged man. He was framed as 'funny' but his 'wisecracks' were cliche and painful.

I found the story slow and fairly uninteresting, and the ending, while philosophically sound, was disappointing.

I guess this one just wasn't for me.

[Linley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story about facing the hard things in life. Sandy isn't having life easy after his mum dies but he is lucky to have a strong aunt, uncle and family who take him in. Life on the farm is described wonderfully - it reminded me of my rural visits as a townie to my farming friends.
Highly recommended to Y9 & 10, especially readers who don't want a lengthy read - it only took me 3 hours and I enjoyed it.