• click here to return to the homepage •
Home > Categories > Books > Kids - Junior > The Hunt for the Whistle: A Cleft Adventure review
When Coach's whistle goes missing and the football team can't practise, Ollie and his new friend, Aria, lead the search.
It takes a while for the rest of the team to follow Ollie, who's got great detective skills, as they find him hard to understand because of his cleft. But Aria encourages their teammates to really listen. Can the team work together to solve the mystery?
The World of Ptaavs
Dreamland : Strike Zone
Avatar - The Movie Scrapbook
The 39 Clues - 9 - Storm Warning
Wolven 2 - The Twilight Circus
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Feed a Family of Six for Under $20
Mission Survival: Claws of the Crocodile
The Wonky Donkey Sticker Scenes
River Riddle
Star Wars Jedi Academy #3: The Phantom Bully
Countdown to Danger #2: Shockwave
Thieves' GambitProduct reviews...
Members are welcome to post a review. You will need to log in to post yours.
Review by: mizim (Miriam)
Dated: 30th of September, 2024
Cleft NZ and Huia Publications have teamed up to create this lovely little picture book, featuring a young lad who was born with a cleft. In case you were unaware, a cleft can affect the lip and/or the palate in utero and requires surgery/ies as well as the possibility of there being an effect on their speech etc.
Ollie is a young lad, who loves to play football but tends to get ignored and overlooked because the other kids have trouble understanding his words. Along comes new teammate Aria, who loves to whistle to the birds and when he expresses how he wants to talk more and lead more she lets him know that sometimes people need to slow down and listen. When the coaches whistle goes missing and a few other mysteries happen, Ollie finally has a chance to lead the team, to figure out the mystery and most importantly, be listened to.
I really liked the illustrations and am so happy that they kept it set in NZ, with our birds and trees. Whilst the main character may have a cleft, this story is good enough that any child can read and enjoy the story of the missing whistle. It's also just a good, general, lesson that sometimes you need to slow yourself down, listen to others and make sure that you are giving them your attention. My child (whom I bought this for and was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate) is now thirteen and I wish this book had been around when they were younger, as representation matters and they would have loved having a book with a main character like themselves.
A great book to own if you have your own cleftastic family member, and a great book if you want a fun story. Win/win here.
Random listing from 'Books'...
Hare and Pihoihoi are enjoying a beautiful dawn breaking over the meadow when Pihoihoi wonders aloud, "What colour is the sky?"
Hare thinks it is blue, but when they talk to Hedgehog, Snail, Mouse, Frog and Ruru, the other creatures each say the sky is a different colour. Why does this happen?
This book explores the idea that all of us see from different perspectives. Through its beautiful illustrations, it explores the wonder of nature and shows young children the importance of listening and respecting other opinions, even when we see things differently.
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough?"
unattributed
