The Lost Whale: A powerful animal adventure story for children, from the bestselling author of The Last Bear

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Levi Pinfold’s art work within The Lost Whale is another treat all of it’s own, some illustrations bringing a tear to my eye. This precious story and astounding art together – are pure treasure. What surprised you most when you were researching whales for this book - and what are your top three Whale Facts? My next book is currently A Top Secret! All I can say is that yes, there will be similar environmental themes so watch this space!

Growing up, Hannah’s biggest dream was to own a cat and be a writer and she’s happy to say she’s achieved both. After studying screenwriting at university she went onto work in the London film and theatre industry before following her heart to sunnier climes. She now lives in Lincolnshire with her tortoise, her cat and her husband. We ignore the rest of our senses, underestimate their power, not only disconnecting us from one another, but also disconnecting us from the world around us, dismissing what we cannot comprehend or recognize as empathy. This book is about a boy who loves whales.His mother turns I'll do he has to stay with his grandma.While he is at his grandma's house he learns about a whale called the white beak.One day the white beak traps her tail,can this boy help white beak before it's to late? It all starts at the beginning. This book is obviously written by a journalist, and while I have no problem with journalists, they should understand that an article and a book have two different formats. This author (because it seems that Suzanne Chisholm was simply added for the credit) does not get that. He opens, continues, and ends in article format. This ruins a book's flow.It isn't only a environmental conscious narrative, but with its cadence to deal with hard topics in family dynamics - such as how parent's mental health affects the child deeply -, I can tell you Hannah Gold has written something quite unique and relatable to all of us. From a structural point of view, there had to be a reason why Rio would fly off to America all by himself, but from an emotional point of view, the reason why I chose mental health as one of the major themes of The Lost Whale is because it's something very close to my heart. It’s often a teary book, with tissues needed, but it also teaches the reader a bit about mental health issues but a lot about Whales and need to step up and take responsibility for their plight. First things first, I learned a lot. As much as I'd like to think of myself as a dolphin/whale/cetacean/ocean enthusiast, I didn't know that the Southern Resident Killer Whales are endangered. Somehow, I know all about endangered blue whales and endangered right whales. I was completely bummed out when the Yangtze River dolphin went extinct, but I hadn't come across much about SRKWs and how there are so few of them left. Until now.

This is an important first novel, important for us, for polar bears, for the planet. It is deeply moving, beautifully told, quite unforgettable' Michael Morpurgo Historien har så mange hjerteskærende og rørende elementer i sig og selvom det er en bog til det lidt yngre publikum, så kan man som voksen virkelig også få en god pose med stof til eftertanke med sig videre. Det er en historie om kærlighed. Kærlighed til mennesker. Kærlighed til dyr. Kærlighed til naturen. Kærlighed der både gør ondt og varmer. Jeg synes, at historien er så fin, at den ikke skal gives væk, for hvis du sidder derude og er blevet nysgerrig, så vil jeg ikke ødelægge den for dig. Hvis du kunne lide “Den sidste børn” af samme forfatter, så vil du ELSKE den her. At just 11 years old Rio has had a lot of growing up and responsibility in his life. His mother doesn’t cope well with life and Rio does his best to keep his eye out for her, making sure she is eating and staying safe. When his mum is finally admitted to a hospital for treatment he is sent to a small coastal town in California to live with Fran his grandmother. A grandmother he has barely seen and he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her, nor does he want to stay. One day Fran gives him a box of treasures that belonged to his mum and when Rio looks through them he finds a sketchbook with many many drawings of a whale, a whale he comes to know is called White Beak because of her distinctive markings. This leads him down to the sea and a chance meeting with Marina, a young girl his age who lives on a whale watching boat with her father. Rio feels if he finds this whale it will help mend his mother. He soon learns he has an affinity with the whales and can hear them when no one else can. The Lost Whale chronicles the life of Luna, or L98, a lost (or abandoned) male orca calf from L pod, who lived in Nootka Sound for 5 years - from 2001 to 2006. His friendly interactions with the local community gained international attention, but also raised some serious concerns. What to do with a whale in their midst? Let nature take its course? Capture and relocate him? Kill him? Place him in an aquarium? Michael Parfit leads the reader through all of it, and more. It's not the (sad) outcome that's captivated me, though, but Parfit's recollection of the events that led to it. The latter part of the book, when the emotions start taking over and the author is no longer concerned only with facts, was a bit on the rambling side. But it's still so very well written. (The book reminds me of A Wolf Called Romeo, and it's not a random association, as orcas are often called the wolves of the sea; regarding this, what I found particularly intriguing was that Luna was fascinated with the wolf howls he was played.) Lleno de mensajes duros pero necesarios, sin dejar perder la esperanza, es un libro que te hace pasar por una vorágine de sentimientos y no dejará a nadie indiferente.

Firstly, I hope it raises awareness of ocean conservation, in particular the plight of the whales. And that if we all work together by taking part on group conservation causes (as per the Happywhale database in the book) then we can make a difference.