Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
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Book Reviews of Giraffes Can't Dance
Book Review: Boogie on, Gerald!
Summary: 5 Stars
Gerald the Giraffe is one clumsy animal. He's good at standing still and munching shoots off trees but when he wants to join the other animals at the Jungle Dance, they only laugh at him. Not for long, though. His friend the cricket knows how to play the music that inspires Gerald to dance like John Travolta in his best days. Gerald is transformed because "we all can dance ... when we find music that we love.""Giraffes Can't Dance" is my personal favorite among Max's books. The story is familiar to many kids who go to kindergarten and learn that their peers can be picky about who belongs to the pack and who does not. In the book, the exuberant illustrations of Guy Parker-Rees take the sting out of Gerald's initial rejection by the other animals. Watching the Rhinos rock'n'roll and the lions "dance a tango that was elegant and bold," balances Gerald's sadness. The emphasis of the story is on Gerald's joyful transformation, anyway. Just read Gerald's jubilant "I am dancing! Yes, I'm dancing! I AM DANCING!" with enough liveliness and watch the kids identify with a flying giraffe. After all, the lesson is that you can excel and enjoy who you are even if, at first, the world does not play your tune. With a little help from his friends, Gerald finds out that "sometimes when you're different you just need a different song."
Let me add one short paragraph on Gerald's helpful friends, the cricket and the three small bugs that are hiding on every page. These four little fellows are an ingenious device to soften the impact of the emotional story. Kids are in love with details; once they know what to look for, they will tirelessly search for the bugs and the cricket, and point them out to you. Hint: play dumb and they will have a party.
Book Review: A good story told well and fabulous pictures
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book for my 2.5 year old son, after reading great reviews at Amazon. I was looking for books that had actual stories to read at bedtime (our bookshelves are currently overrun by books that teach kids about trucks animals, shapes, colors, numbers etc books, the educational variety), stories that were just long enough to hold my toddler's attention and easy enough for him to follow it. The story about Gerald the giraffee is perfect. The prose is easy,there are only 4-5 sentences on each page and it rhymes, which is always a winner with my son. The pictures of the animals are very colorful and beautifully drawn, the expression on gerald's face on every page deserve special mention. In addition, the small cricket on every page is a fun "find-it" activity, if you are not reading at bedtime. Although, at bedtime, for us anyway, that was more of a distraction that a bonus :).
Just FYI - the pages in this book are glossy and moderately thick, but not as sturdy as a board book. So if your little one is still in the ripping-the-pages phase, you might want to wait to get this one out.
Although toddlers will probably not comprehend the moral of the story (that being different is okay) at this age, I am sure this book will last well into the years when they will. This one is a keeper.
Book Review: Good illustrations, pretty good story, nice message
Summary: 5 Stars
I quite liked this book, my children LOVE it. The illustrations are amazing, they are nicely drawn, and the colour! It is extraodinarily rich and vibrant. I don't know if it simply that it suits the setting of this book which is Africa or if this is usual for this illustrator. Whatever the reason I will definitley be finding more of these books for my kids. My two girls spend ages looking at the pictures picking out the small details.
The story is nice. It is about Gerald the Giraffe who attends the annual dance but it laughed at by the other animals for being so clumsy. Gerald goes away humiliated, but he meets a cricket who teaches him to listen for his own special music, and that is the music he should dance to. Gerald listens and hears it, and then he starts to dance himself and it is wonderful, all the other animls come to watch and applaud.
So it has a nice positive message at the end of it too.
Book Review: A Wonderful Lesson!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the most precious story about how being different is okay and how you can still be good at something even though you have to go about it a little "differently." I bought this for my 4 yr old son with cerebral palsy who can't walk and he absolutely adores it! "We can all dance if we find the right music." Gerald, who initially was ridiculed by the other animals for being a terrible dancer, gets a little help from a friend in finding the "right music." His dancing is admired by the other animals in the end. My husband demonstrates the different dances with my son as he reads the book to him which my son thoroughly enjoys! We have a very extensive book collection for my son, but this would have to be one of his (and my) all-time favorites. I have also bought several copies of this book for my son's school. The illustrations are the best that I've ever seen in a children's book. Can't recommend this highly enough!Book Review: Review
Summary: 5 Stars
Do you like calm and weird books? If you do then is the book for you. The story Giraffes Can't Dance is about a Giraffe who is very clumsy and can't dance and gets teased a lot by other animals. Then he figures out that there is something called a jungle dance that will happen in a couple of days and all the animals practice some in groups more then two like the baboons and some just two like the lions. So then he practices but it's no help. So then a wise cricket helps him practice. I won't tell you the hole story but I will give you some more details like the setting is the jungle and some of the characters are the Giraffe, the baboons, lions and more animals that you will love. I thought the authors message was that just because someone or something can't do some thing doesn't mean you shouldn't be their friend or bail on them. So if you want to see what happens by the book I am sure you will like it.