Awa loves spending time on his grandparent’s farm, far from home and close to the sea. He helps bring the milk in, move Suzie the cow onto
new grass and look after his three year old cousin, Tui.
His grandparents love having him stay. So do his uncles, Kim and Frank. But his uncles like to tease Awa, especially about the house next door. It’s empty now, but Mrs Carol once lived there and Awa’s uncles tell him it’s haunted. They tell terrible tales of Mr Carol and how he died in suspicious circumstances. Awa knows they are always teasing but is not sure what to really believe.
One day, Awa meets other neighbours that his uncles can’t tease him about. They are the Rumbles – an elderly couple who gather and dry seaweed for money. Awa is astonished to meet their large, loud and brightly coloured parrot named Carrot. He’s surprised at how smart Carrot is too.
From the moment they meet, Carrot takes a shine to Awa, and they explore the forest and land around their houses, right down the beach where the Rumbles find their seaweed.
But Carrot has another surprise in store for Awa, leading him to an abandoned tree hut. Awa’s time is soon filled on walks with Carrot on his shoulder or fixing the hut. He meets more folk of the area, always wondering what happened to the boy who built the tree hut in the first place.
Set on the East Coast of New Zealand in a remote rural area, Awatea’s Treasure is a gentle tale of a boy’s beach adventures while staying at his grandparents.
It is a time before technology, when pounds are still used (not NZ dollars), and local fare was crayfish, in season fruit, home baked bread and baking. A nice bit of eel doesn’t go amiss either.
The contrast to the normal, quiet, rural life is the neighbour’s exotic parrot, and Awa’s always joking uncles, trying to pull one over on him.
A step back to a simpler time in historical New Zealand and the first book in this series.
Author – Fraser Smith
Age – 8+
Read reviews for the next two books in this fun, kiwi series:
(2024, Series, New Zealand, Animals, Parrot, Adventure, Historical, Ghost, Family, Uncles, Teasing, Humour, Ambergris, Treasure, Tree hut, Secret, Beach)