Why the Whales Came - Michael Morpurgo

“You keep away from the Birdman,” warned Gracie’s father: “Keep well clear of him, you hear me now?”

But Gracie and her friend Daniel discover that the Birdman isn’t mad or dangerous as everyone says. Yet he does warn them to stay away from the abandoned Samson Island – he says it’s cursed. And when the children are stranded on Samson by fog, Gracie returns home to learn of a tragic death. Could the Birdman be right?

On the day the whale is found stranded on the beach, the Birdman is forced to reveal his secret – or the cycle of disaster will begin all over again …