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When the Wind Changed
Josh could make the most awful faces. But one day, just as he made the most hideous face of all, the wind changed. However, Josh's awful face helps save his dad from a bank robber - just before the wind changes again.
Unknown Binding
First published February 28, 1981
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About the author
Ruth Park
83 books110 followersRuth Park was a New Zealand-born author, who spent most of her life in Australia. She was born in Auckland, and her family later moved to Te Kuiti further south in the North Island of New Zealand, where they lived in isolated areas.
During the Great Depression her working class father worked on bush roads, as a driver, on relief work, as a sawmill hand, and finally shifted back to Auckland as council worker living in a state house. After Catholic primary school Ruth won a partial scholarship to secondary school, but this was broken by periods of being unable to afford to attend. For a time she stayed with relatives on a Coromandel farming estate where she was treated like a serf by the wealthy landowner until she told the rich woman what she really thought of her.
Ruth claimed that she was involved in the Queen Street riots with her father. Later she worked at the Auckland Star before shifting to Australia in 1942. There she married the Australian writer D'Arcy Niland.
Her first novel was The Harp in the South (1948) - a story of Irish slum life in Sydney, which was translated into 10 languages. (Some critics called it a cruel fantasy because as far as they were concerned there were no slums in Sydney.) But Ruth and D'Arcy did live in Sydney slums at Surry Hills. She followed that up with Poor Man's Orange (1949). She also wrote Missus (1985) and other novels, as well as a long-running Australian children's radio show and scripts for film and TV. She created The Muddle-Headed Wombat series of children's books. Her autobiographies are A Fence Around the Cuckoo (1992) and Fishing in the Styx (1993). She also wrote a novel based in New Zealand, One-a-pecker, Two-a-pecker (1957), about gold mining in Otago (later renamed The Frost and The Fire).
Park received awards in Australia and internationally.
Winner of the Dromkeen Medal.
During the Great Depression her working class father worked on bush roads, as a driver, on relief work, as a sawmill hand, and finally shifted back to Auckland as council worker living in a state house. After Catholic primary school Ruth won a partial scholarship to secondary school, but this was broken by periods of being unable to afford to attend. For a time she stayed with relatives on a Coromandel farming estate where she was treated like a serf by the wealthy landowner until she told the rich woman what she really thought of her.
Ruth claimed that she was involved in the Queen Street riots with her father. Later she worked at the Auckland Star before shifting to Australia in 1942. There she married the Australian writer D'Arcy Niland.
Her first novel was The Harp in the South (1948) - a story of Irish slum life in Sydney, which was translated into 10 languages. (Some critics called it a cruel fantasy because as far as they were concerned there were no slums in Sydney.) But Ruth and D'Arcy did live in Sydney slums at Surry Hills. She followed that up with Poor Man's Orange (1949). She also wrote Missus (1985) and other novels, as well as a long-running Australian children's radio show and scripts for film and TV. She created The Muddle-Headed Wombat series of children's books. Her autobiographies are A Fence Around the Cuckoo (1992) and Fishing in the Styx (1993). She also wrote a novel based in New Zealand, One-a-pecker, Two-a-pecker (1957), about gold mining in Otago (later renamed The Frost and The Fire).
Park received awards in Australia and internationally.
Winner of the Dromkeen Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 6, 2019
Terrified me as a child, but in a good way!
March 27, 2021
Controversial opinion incoming: this book (beloved by many and in print for over 40 years) is outdated and ableist. I feel that we have come further in comedy than laughing at physical differences. Having an 'ugly', 'grotesque' face that just changes back to 'normal' or 'conventionally attractive' with the wind is a totally gross concept with no awareness of its privilege.
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May 30, 2008My mom found this one at the library one visit and as hard as we tried we were unable to talk her into stealing it for us...
September 6, 2009
An extremely fun story based around the idea that if the wind changes while you are making a funny face it'll stay that way.
Ahhh back in the days when bank tellers were respected, important members of the community...
Ahhh back in the days when bank tellers were respected, important members of the community...
May 3, 2012
OMG, the things you find when you're poking around an author's profile! I had totally forgotten this book - which we must have read a dozen times in grade prep :) Absolutely loved it! Hideous illustrations and such a hilarious but scary cautionary tale when you're five :D
August 5, 2018
I don't know how to do it is so hard for me
May 14, 2012
A fondly-remembered childhood favourite, and my kids love it too! (Especially my son Josh, I may have to buy him his own copy)
August 14, 2011
It was really, really scary. Josh saved the day.
February 10, 2013
This book was every kid's worst nightmare! I would like my kids to learn a lesson when I read them this book. Is there an ebook of it somewhere?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews