The Children’s Book Review | July 20, 2014
The Skywhale
By Deborah Richards
eBook:74 pages
Age Range: 10 and up
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing (July 2014)
eBook ISBN: 978-1-77127-552-1
What to expect: Fantastic creatures, mind-bending adventures
George and Esme, siblings that live with their mother and grandfather, have found a skywhale—an animal as large as a whale but that travels through the air instead of through water. The skywhale can communicate with Esme through its thoughts. Adventures await—from helping a beached whale return to the ocean to discovering the secret hideaway of the skywhales in Iceland and finding buried treasure. The children soar through the sky, covering incredible distances and learning about the life of creatures they never knew existed. The skywhale takes a liking to Esme and George and begins to trust them with its secrets.
The author introduces all sorts of interesting topics—from how whales communicate to how they use echolocation to find their way around the ocean. Although it’s a short novel, The Skywhale touches on some of the bigger mysteries in life—are there alien life forms? Do crop circles have any meaning? Who built Stonehenge? The main characters forge a strong bond not only with the skywhale but with each other. Faced with numerous challenges, George and Esme become closer than even before and begin to understand the importance of working as a team and providing each other with mutual support.
The Skywhale poses interesting questions and touches on all sorts of mysterious topics. It does not provide answers but rather leaves the reader to make up his or her own mind. It is well suited to readers over age 10.
Add this book to your collection: The Skywhale
About the Author
Deborah Richards is a writer/artist who lives with her family in Ipswich on the east coast of England, UK. She has five children, three boys and two girls. All but one of them have now grown up and left home. Her youngest child, a daughter, goes to the local High School. Deborah has three university degrees which she has done over the course of her adult life – in Psychology, Business Studies and more recently in Fine Art (Painting). She spends a lot of time painting and then a lot of time writing but rarely does both in parallel as she becomes immersed in whichever mode of creative expression she is engaged with. Helped by her strong visualisation skills, Deborah’s writing and painting have similar themes. These are the natural world, the paranormal and distortions of reality which make stories interesting and paintings mysterious. The Skywhale is her second published book. Deborah plans to write a sequel to The Skywhale.
Follow Deborah Richards on Twitter.
Dedicated Reviews allow authors and illustrators to gain prompt visibility for their work. The author of “The Skywhale” paid for this non-biased review. Learn more about getting a book review …
