Published: 7th September 2021
Publisher: Little Genius Books
Illustrator: Thea Baker
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
Joffrey might have horns, a tail and a long neck, but his stripy fur is causing quite the stir. Everyone knows that giraffes have spots! But if Joffrey isn’t a giraffe, what could he be?
First things first, I’m ashamed to say it took me a while to realise what the problem with the giraffe on the cover was until the story pointed it out, it didn’t click that giraffe don’t have brown stripes but honestly it’s a cute look.
Basic giraffe anatomy aside, this is a fun book. Joffrey is born different and while he isn’t exactly cast out from his herd, he is made to feel weird and Not Like The Rest enough that he chooses to leave. Clearly Joffrey doesn’t have a Mrs Jumbo in his life that defends their kid the second their born from the rest of the mean herd.
The story follows Joffrey as he tries to find who he is, if he isn’t a giraffe then what could he possibly be? I love his attempts at being different animals – from bees, to crocodiles, to elephants. All of them not the right fit.
The narrative rhyme is simple and flows well as you read either aloud or to yourself. The illustrations and the text work well together as readers build anticipation with page turns and fun expressions.
The illustrations are sweet, the designs are simple and the colours are gorgeous in full and partial pages. The creative geometric designs used in the background design as well as some of the other animals is clever and add great texture to the page. I also loved the small details like a spotted zebra which goes to show that others might not match their community either but it doesn’t need to mean anything.
I like that when Joffrey goes home, the other giraffe realise they were wrong. His leaving made them understand they’d made a mistake which is a great apology to show. Joffrey didn’t have to be the one to be proud of who he is without the community knowing they’d been wrong as well. There’s no point being proud of who you are while everyone else thinks you’re weird and shouldn’t be there. That’s not fair to Joffrey and he’d be better off staying away.
It is a good message wrapped around a cute and humorous story and one I think a lot of people could learn from.
You can purchase How to be a Giraffe via the following
This new book is a clever way to introduce young readers to non-binary and gender-fluid people. As Ms. Reeves’ class produces a play about a farm, the entire class comes to understand about being true to who you are, as classmate Ari expresses their identity as they, which prompts Jacob to look more deeply about what it means to be who he is, and how others identify. Explaining the use of pronouns of one’s own choosing to kids, while all along reinforcing that an individual is much more layered and unique then how others may see him, her or them, is a developmentally important milestone to help foster respect of one’s self and one’s peers.
One day, Emma the dog leaves the vet with a giant plastic lampshade on her head. It cuts off her corners, dulls her digging, and makes Garson the greyhound gawk. One thing is clear-the cone is not good, and the only thing left to do is sulk. When Emma’s human tries to cheer her up with a game of fetch, Emma discovers that the cone miraculously catches every ball she fumbles! Emma realizes the cone has other surprising advantages too, from serving as a helmet during her hallway hurtles to helping her dig at triple-speed. This fresh and funny follow-up to Cone Cat is a charming ode to ingenuity and making the best out of a ruff situation.
