Book review: Song for a Whale

Written by Lynne Kelly
Available from Amazon and bookshops
Ages: 8-12

Reviewed by Poppy (10) who is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants.

Poppy

"I got this book a while ago. I put it to one side as it looked boring, but my mum persuaded me to read it. ‘OK,’ I said. I looked at the front cover, read the back cover, then opened the book. I read the first two pages and I was hooked! I wanted to read more but it was time for bed. The next morning my mum reminded me about the book and I started reading again. I read and read. I’d nearly finished it by bedtime!

The book is really interesting. It’s a beautiful story about a deaf girl Iris who finds out about a whale called Blue 55. The whale sings at a different frequency to other whales. He thinks he’s the only whale in the world! The girl signs to her grandma and her grandma says they should encourage the whale. They record a CD of music, play the CD and hope that Blue 55 can hear it. Iris is really happy when he does, she strokes the whale and the whale goes back to the sea.

Song for a Whale is a fantastic story. I would recommend all deaf children and adults read the book! It would be good in British Sign Language (BSL) but I use BSL and it was easy for me to understand."