Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
| Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
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| Summary: It's essentially magnetic Fuzzy Felt, with a jungle theme. It's lots of fun, but it's certainly something to play with, rather than read - you'll need to check out the original story if you want a deeper tale. Kids will love it, and it's very easy to tidy away too. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 10 | Date: May 2009 |
| Publisher: Orchard | |
| ISBN: 978-1408301999 | |
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The animals are getting ready for the Jungle Dance, where Gerald is going to shake his groove thang and show them that giraffes can dance really. Young children can place the fifteen animal magnets on the four jungle scenes, and tell the story themselves of what happens when giraffes get down and boogie.
As a book, Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book is short and simple - the rhymes are nice, but if you're looking for something to read, you'd be better off with the full original story. This is, essentially, halfway between a toy and a book. It's magnetic Fuzzy Felt, with beautiful illustrations and a zesty sense of fun. It's something to play with, rather than something to read - not that there's anything wrong with that.
Kids love Fuzzy Felt. Kids love magnets. Kids love animals. Kids love books with extra parts, things to do, things to interact with. Parents love magnets too. Compare Giraffes Can't Dance to something like What's in the Fridge? by Gaby Goldsack and Jo Moon, which kids absolutely adore, but parents find a bit fiddly to put away. Giraffes Can't Dance is a doddle to clear away, including the little magnetised box that the animals are stored in. No bits will get lost. It works perfectly. The strength of the magnets is spot on too - everything sticks where and when it's supposed to, but little fingers can easily move things around, unstick them, and have it just how they want it.
Giraffes Can't Dance comes with a brilliantly terrifying warning that under-3s shouldn't play with it as Swallowed magnets can stick together across intestines causing serious infections and death. (Don't worry; properly supervised, your child will be finer than fine, particularly as the magnets are fairly big). Now, I know it's serious, and no-one wants a tragedy, but isn't there something just fantastic about giving children books with such a comment on the back of it? I wish adult books came with such warnings!
Scary postscript aside, the Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book is lots of fun. It's something a little different to most books, and that's always great.
Thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
The Noisiest Night by Thomas Taylor is another lovely book set in the jungle, and is available with an audio CD too. You can't go far wrong with the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling if exotic animals are your cup of tea. If you're into dancing, then try Let's Go, Baby-o! by Janet McLean and Andrew McLean.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees at Amazon.com.
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