Uncle Trev - Jack Lasenby
When I was in primary school, I remember reading Uncle Trev stories; I guess there was a book of them in the school library. I have an Uncle Trev of my own, who is also a bit of a storyteller, so this book must have struck a chord with me. Having found this copy at a book sale somewhere, I began reading it quite some time ago with Elise. Then, I 'stole' it away to school, where I used chapters of it to help craft a new Level 1 (Year 11) English course that was focussing on Kiwi identity. For the rest of this year it has been sitting on my desk at work, so when I packed up for the year, I brought it home and finished it off myself.
The set-up of Uncle Trev is very simple: a nameless young narrator, living in the 1930s or 40s, often sick at home, is regaled by the tall tales of his Uncle Trev. Uncle Trev will have some farfetched idea that will make farming life easier, or some farfetched adventure involving farming life, and the boy will believe every word. The boy's mother - Trev's sister - will scold in the background, telling her son not to listen to her brother.
And that's pretty much it! Every chapter is its own story, with a few exceptions, and is fairly self-contained. This makes sense, as the chapters were originally stories published in New Zealand School Journals.
Some of the stories are pretty dumb, some are mildly funny, and a few really have something to laugh about (one of my favourites involves a day so cold that the smoke froze in the valley behind Trev's house), but where the book excels is in its depiction of early 20th-century New Zealand. It feels authentic.
Good for kids.
Completed 22 December 2024.
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