SuitabookDear Greenpeace
Simon James
- Reading
- Read the letters aloud with room to pause over the replies, then invite the child to distinguish the whale’s imaginative story from the real information about migration and animal needs.
- Themes
- Imagination and factual knowledge: Emily believes a whale is in her pond, while Greenpeace replies that whales need space and migrate; the correspondence develops this contrast. The book appears to make imaginative belief and factual explanation sit alongside one another, using humour rather than presenting only one mode of understanding.
- Animal freedom and care: Emily salts the water and feeds Arthur, while Greenpeace explains migration; Arthur eventually returns to travelling the oceans and is later seen at the seaside. The story presents affection for an animal alongside the idea that a whale’s life involves movement and open space, without establishing a simple ownership message.
- Worth knowing
- Consider whether a child may want to write a reply to Greenpeace, draw a whale’s journey, or talk about what “freedom” might mean for a wild animal.