Brother Dusty Feet is a delightful historical novel for children which was written by Rosemary Sutcliff in the early 1950s. It is set during the time of Queen Elizabeth I of England fairly early on in her reign, and it covers the story of an orphaned boy who runs away from an unkind aunt and uncle and who falls in with a group of travelling actors. Each of the actors is described in some detail and all take part in the story to some degree. Nothing is wasted padding.
Great Material for Teaching a Class
It is beautifully written. The characters are well developed and fit well into the story, and any teacher would find a wealth of historical information to discuss in each chapter. Ms Sutcliff includes the history naturally and easily and there are no dry bits to skip over, though bringing in a young Sir Walter Raleigh during one incident does seem a little too obvious. Although no absolute dates are given during the story one can tell when it was set by the fact that some characters make reference to Henry VII. The youthful Sir Walter also helps fix the date as being fairly early on in Elizabeth’s reign; if it had been later it would also seem unlikely that characters would make references to Henry VII as he predeceased Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father.
Lots of Interesting Incidents
There are some particularly nice moments in the book. The chapter in which Hugh (the child hero of the book) goes with the piper is quite magical, as is the one in which his dog becomes the main character, having gone AWOL from the players during their journey. Also worthy of mention is the incident in which they get lost in the mist and when they do find shelter, are treated like honoured guests. This ends up being very funny indeed with some hilarious descriptions.
Exquisite Descriptive Writing
The descriptive writing is excellent. Ms Sutcliff has a happy knack of building pictures with her words which is rarely equalled and each scene is treated with the same care and detail as the previous one.
The novel does have a happy ending which is not at all contrived, and there is no feeling of ends being left dangling or of any part of the story being unfinished.
Suitable for Older Children from About 9 or 10 Onwards
This novel can be recommended for any group of children of about nine or ten upwards, especially if they are already studying Elizabethan and Tudor history. Even if they are not, it is a great introduction to Rosemary Sutcliff’s writing; it is an easy, gentle read and covers its historical period easily.
Brother Dusty-Feet is in print, published by Red Fox Books in an edition intended for older children.
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