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. If ever there was a mammal that could capture your heart, it's Luna; the whale that got separated from his pod and adopted the people of the area he decided to set up camp. This book would have worked way better as a complete picture book, or would even make a really good movie.

Whilst coming into his own and enjoying building new relationships, and finding out what it's like to have scream-out-loud-across-the ocean-with-joy fun, never far from his mind is his quest to find his mother's grey whale. As part of being a children's author, one of the lovely parts of my job is getting the opportunity to read lots of other children's books!

He loves her with all his heart and he worries about her constantly, forgetting himself and his needs, she is his all. Luna would have had to listen to the roar of boat engines, the lumber mill, and possible seal scarers (something used by fish farms to ward off seals, at decibels high enough to give a human, who does not have quite as sensitive hearing, pain). We fail to recognize that communication is synonymous to connection, and our connection to the world around us is limited bc we cannot comprehend any other sense of communication other than speech.

There were many grown-ups all round the world who seemed to be waiting for the right moment to do something. That is until an incredible encounter with White Beak, a gentle giant of the sea changes everything.This is a side of his mother he never knew about before, a time in her life when she was happy, when she was a child, like him. Her latest book, FINDING BEAR - a sequel to THE LAST BEAR - was a top five children’s hardback bestseller on its release in September 2023. Winning awards all over the place (Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2022, Blue Peter Book Award 2022) and now shortlisted for the British Book Awards Children's Fiction Book of the Year 2022; you can hopefully imagine the anticipation we felt across the children's book world for 'The Lost Whale'! But White Beak is missing--and Rio must embark on a desperate journey across the dangerous ocean to find her.