Dumb Creatures

Dumb Creatures
by Jeanne Willis

This is a short book, but a memorable one. The main character is eleven year old Tom. Tom can hear, but he can't speak. He has a lot to say about everything, but the only way he can communicate is by sign language. It is all very frustrating! He can have a conversation with his teacher, but his classmates don't make the effort to learn sign language and even more infuriating, they talk to Tom as if he is stupid. Tom isn't stupid, in fact he is very smart.

Tom loves visiting the zoo. It is the one place he feels really content. Tom can even tell how the animals are feeling by watching their body language. One day Tom is at the gorilla enclosure with his mother, when the female gorilla Zanzi points at Tom's mother who is pregnant and signs to Tom, "Baby". Tom's mother is leaning against the enclosure resting, with her eyes closed, so she doesn't see, but Tom does. He wonders if he has imagined the whole thing, but then Zanzi points to her own stomach and signs "baby here too".

Tom keeps Zanzi's secret. She doesn't want anyone to know, not even the zoo keeper, but when Zanzi's baby goes missing Tom decides it is time to speak out.