Have You Seen My Giraffe? by Michelle Robinson and Claire Powell
| Have You Seen My Giraffe? by Michelle Robinson and Claire Powell | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Extremely silly, and wonderful because of it, this is one for those parents who are constantly saying 'no, you can't have a puppy/rabbit/dinosaur…'! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: July 2017 |
| Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9780857075994 | |
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Imagine, if you will, a world in which you no longer win goldfish at the fair, but you could potentially be coming home with a giraffe! This is the situation that the family in this story find themselves in, and it turns out that having a giraffe in your house may not go down too well with your parents!
This story is nonsense, but it is the very best kind of nonsense! I love the idea of winning a giraffe, and it's delightful to see how very difficult a pet a giraffe is (he's so big, and clumsy!) The story shows us a little girl who very much wants to keep her giraffe, and so she attempts to squish and squash him into the most unlikely places at home, and then, when told he must go, she tries to find him the very best hiding place. She disguises him as a lamp in the lounge. She gets him to pretend he's a dog, and dress up as a visiting friend. Unfortunately the more ideas she has, the bigger the mess she creates at home, until the house is falling apart and the family are reduced to eating on the kitchen floor!
Just in case you're worrying, about either the giraffe or the family, there is indeed a nice, happy ending. The story itself is very funny, with lots of potential discussion around camouflage, hide and seek, pet ownership and listening to what your parents tell you! It's very easy to follow, and with lots of funny giraffe situations it makes an entertaining read. The pictures are wonderful, with an extremely expressive giraffe, a funny little girl and also (my favourites) her hard-done-by parents! The expression on the dad's face when he finds the giraffe in his bath is brilliant!
It's colourful throughout, with lots to see on each page, and whilst the story is good in itself, the pictures really add an extra element of silliness as they show off the giraffe's enormous size and his clumsiness. I really like the page where the girl and giraffe are trying to come up with suitable hiding places. The giraffe is wearing glasses, sitting cross-legged and jotting down notes on a clipboard, whilst the girl has a range of possible solutions stuck to her bedroom wall such as turning the giraffe into a washing line, a diving board and even a mop. I spent quite some time by myself just enjoying that page.
This is a great deal of fun to read aloud, and definitely one to cheer you up on a blue day, or give you the giggles just before bathtime! Further reading suggestion: For more giraffe delights, you might enjoy The Short Giraffe by Neil Flory and Mark Cleary or A Gold Star for George by Alice Hemming and Kimberley Scott.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Have You Seen My Giraffe? by Michelle Robinson and Claire Powell 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 Have You Seen My Giraffe? by Michelle Robinson and Claire Powell at Amazon.com.
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