Trust among dolphins

Press, 24 December 1982, Page 19

Trust among dolphins

The New Zealand writer Beverley Dunlop has written numerous stories for school publications, but “The Dolphin Boy” (Hodder and Stoughton. $10.95) is her first full length book for children. It is written for children in the eight to 12 age group and one hopes the rather garish dust-jacket will not put these potential readers off.

Rollo, an orphan taken by a foster family as company for their epileptic son, Bob, at first resents his new. family and new life in a seaside town. His meeting with Freckles, a mysterious boy who is able to communicate with dolphins, and the adventures the three boys get into, teach Rollo much about tolerance - and trust.

The book is well written with an exciting storyline, plenty of mystery and danger, and with underlying themes that should lead the young reader to think seriously about the relationship between humans and the animal world. ' Most of the sociological and ecological concerns are integrated into the story, but occasionally there are undigested patches which jar the reader. Occasionally too some features of the story — for example the manner in which Freckles communicates with the dolphins, or the idea of the dolphins as healers and leaders of the world — seem too unrealistic for readers of this age to accept in what is basically an adventure story. — Margaret Quigley.