Ode to the Long-necked Herbivore

A lot of giraffe-themed books have been popping up lately. Thanks to Laura at Tampa Bookworm for a giraffe book recommendation that sparked this post.

I admit I have a soft spot for giraffes. Polar bears, giraffes, and lobsters are my top three favorite non-domesticated animals. Okay, add elephant in there. My four top favorite non-domesticated animals. Maybe I'll post sometime in the future about books for the others, but today it's all giraffes, all the time.

Laura recommended The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights by David Ufer, illustrated by Kirsten Carlson (9781934359051, Sylvan Dell Publishing, $8.95). I haven't read it yet, but I always appreciate the recommendation.

In my recent Spring 2010 Picturebook Highlights: Marshall Cavendish post, I mentioned A Giraffe Goes to Paris by Mary Tavener Holmes and John Harris, illustrated by Jon Cannell (9780761455950, $17.99)

When Lulu Went to the Zoo
by Andy Ellis
9780761354994, Andersen Press USA, $16.95
Though not primarily about a giraffe, this book does feature a giraffe on the cover. This is a sweet book about a little girl who doesn't like seeing the caged animals, so she frees them and takes them all home to live with her, with some funny results.

Raf
by Anke de Vries & Charlotte Dematons
9781590787496, Boyds Mill Press, $16.95
Raf is short for Giraffe, Ben's favorite stuffed toy. Sort of like the traveling gnome from the Travelocity commercials, when Ben loses Raf, Raf starts sending Ben postcards from his travels with the people who found him. But the real question is, will Raf make it back to Ben in time for Ben's birthday?

Giraffes Can't Dance
by Giles Andreae & Guy Parker-Rees
9780439287197, Scholastic, $16.99
Gerald is my favorite name for a giraffe, and this book is about a Gerald. The animals make fun of Gerald's awkward dancing at a jungle party. Gerald mopes away in shame, but a special friend helps Gerald see there's a type of music out there for everyone to dance to.

Last but not least, don't miss out on the finger puppet book Little Giraffe by Klaartje van der Put (9780811867870, Chronicle, $6.99) and the Melissa & Doug, large, stuffed giraffe ($99.99).

-Rebecca

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Pioneer Valley Children's Book Exhibit

For those folks living in, around, near, or feel like traveling to the Pioneer Valley in Western Mass (an area consisting of towns such as Amherst, Northampton, & South Hadley), a traveling area picturebook exhibit is making its final stop.


The Making of a Picture Book: The Marriage of Text and Art is an exhibit curated by Mount Holyoke College Professor and author, Corinne Demas. The exhibit focuses on these four picturebooks:

Hans Christian Andersen's The Perfect Wizard
written by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Dennis Nolan
9780525469551, Dutton Books (Penguin), $16.99

The Littlest Matryoskha
by Corinne Demas, illustrated by Kathryn Brown
9780786801534, HarperCollins, $15.99


Once I Ate a Pie
co-written by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest, illustrated by Katy Schneider
9780060735319, HarperCollins, $17.99

Ten Times Better
by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Leonard Baskin
9780761450702, Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, $17.95

The exhibit has toured around the Pioneer Valley, most recently at Mount Holyoke College, and now is installed in its final exhibit space at the Forbes Library in Northampton (20 West Street, Northampton, MA - 413.587.1011). The exhibit will be up through the end of May. Stop by and check it out!

-Rebecca