Kids into Books: Dead Man's Head

Author: Jack Lasenby

Illustrator: David Elliot, Jenny Cooper

Publisher: Longacre Press, $14.95

Age: 10+ years


Mr Welsh was refereeing a game of footy, National versus Labour, between the farm kids whose parents voted National and the kids whose fathers worked in the factory and wanted Labour to get in and fix the Depression. Squirming beneath a scrum Pete James asked, "Did you get it under?" and Denny nodded.

The ball bounced into Polly's hands as she came through the same hole in the lawsonianas. She dodged a couple of Nationals and ran the length of the field to score for Labour under the tea-tree posts. Nobody tackled Polly Kennedy. She was too bony.

Goosey Tamihana who was Maori, so nobody asked whether he was Labour or National, kicked the goal and the game was over. mr Welsh blew the whistle and disappeared towards the school-house for a cup of tea before the bell.