How Pippa Found Her Voice

Pippa the whale wakes up unable to sing. Her ocean friends lend a hand, or a fin.

Every evening, Pippa the whale sang a beautiful song that rolled across the ocean. It was deep and slow and full of colour. All the creatures stopped to listen. It helped them fall asleep.

But one evening, when Pippa opened her mouth to sing, there was no sound. Only a croak. She tried again. Nothing! ‘Oh no,’ she whispered. The sea was quiet, and the quiet felt wrong.

‘Perhaps it was too many nervous thoughts,’ said Freya the fish, nudging her gently. Pippa didn’t know. She felt very sad. ‘Without my song,’ she said, ‘I’m just a big fish who can’t do anything.’

‘You’re a whale,’ said Opal the octopus, ‘and you’re our friend. We’ll help you find your voice.’ They all swam together to the deepest part of the ocean, where echoes lived.

There, they each shared a sound. Freya made a quick bubbling noise, Opal made a low rumbling, and Cosmo did a squeaky tune. The sounds all mixed together like a soft, wild, wonderful song.

Pippa listened, and something stirred inside her. A tiny hum began in her chest. It grew and grew, and then she opened her mouth. Out came one low note, soft as a feather, then another. She was singing!

The whole ocean cheered in bubbles. Pippa sang the longest, loveliest song of her life, and her friends sang along, each in their own voice. The song floated up through the waves and into the night sky.

From that night on, whenever Pippa felt shy about her song, she remembered the friends who had given her theirs. And she sang, always, for them.

💡

The little lesson

Your voice belongs to you, and with friends’ help it will come back stronger.

Let’s talk about it

  • Do you have a favourite song? What does it make you feel?
  • How did each friend help?

Finish stories to collect Pippa as a sticker in your Sticker Book.

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