The Lost Whale

By Author / Illustrator

Hannah Gold, Levi Pinfold

Genre

Environment

Age range(s)

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN

9780008412968

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

02-02-2023

Synopsis

The enchanting second novel from the author of The Last Bear: the bestselling debut hardback of 2021 and The Times Children's Book of the Week, winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award. 'An irresistible ocean-loving yarn' The Times

THEIR BOND COULD SET THEM FREE . . . Rio has been sent to live with a grandmother he barely knows in California, while his mum is in hospital. All Rio wants is for Mum to get better so he can return home. But everything changes when he joins a whale-watching trip and meets White Beak, a gentle giant of the sea. Rio forms an instant bond with the whale, and for the first time in ages he feels a spark of hope. Then White Beak goes missing and Rio may be the only person who can help. Can Rio draw on their special connection to somehow find and save his whale . . . ?

Perfect for readers of 9+, beautifully illustrated throughout by Levi Pinfold.

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Reviews

Rio's mum has sent him to stay with his grandma in California. But for Rio, who has spent his life being the one to help his mum, this trip feels all wrong. He can't feel her, and he's lost himself. When his grandma gives him a box of 'keepsakes' of his mum’s, he finds the sketch pad filled with page after page of drawings of whales. One, White Beak, catches his eye. And so begins a glorious tale of one boy, one whale and his absolute need to save her.

Along the way Rio meets Marina and her dad, who help Rio to find his way again. He discovers that he has a rare and exceptional talent - Rio has the ocean's ear. And together the three of them track and monitor whale migration in their part of the Pacific Ocean. When Rio realises that one special whale has fallen off the radar, he makes it his personal goal to find her. Because, somehow, if he can save White Beak, then his mum will be saved too. But an ocean the size of the Pacific is too vast to track alone, and their time is running out to find her. Will they find their whale? And will his mum ever get better?

In The Lost Whale, Hannah Gold weaves her magic once again, her ability to completely encapsulate a character that pulls on our heartstrings makes each word a joy. Her passion for getting to the heart of the story is paralleled with her passion for the ecological issues that are affecting our wildlife, too.

This would be a wonderful book to use to introduce a wide variety of topics for discussion about: mental wellbeing; the role and pressure on child carers; difficulties faced by single parent families, and the weight of responsibility that some children take on. It also looks at huge range of emotions felt by Rio, how they impact on him physically and mentally and how he learns to deal with the issues that he has struggled with for so long. Mental wellbeing plays an integral role throughout this book.

With regards to the ecological issues raised, this book opens a vast ocean of discussion about climate change, impact of rising sea temperatures on the plant and animal life that rely on it, as well as ways to start to get involved - however small - to start to raise awareness and to track changes and impact on our environment.

Another fantastic example to share with children, and adults, to not only show such excellence in writing but to provoke much needed discussion and action needed to save our world.

320 pages / Reviewed by Donna Burkert, teacher