- Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
Other Sellers on Amazon
+ $5.05 shipping
+ Free Shipping
+ $3.99 shipping


Follow the Authors
OK
Giraffes Can't Dance Hardcover – September 1, 2001
Giles Andreae
(Author)
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author?
Learn about Author Central
|
Guy Parker-Rees
(Illustrator)
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author?
Learn about Author Central
|
Price
|
New from | Used from |
Board book, Illustrated
"Please retry"
|
$5.59 | $0.35 |
Enhance your purchase
-
Reading age4 - 8 years
-
Print length32 pages
-
LanguageEnglish
-
Grade levelPreschool - 3
-
Lexile measureAD570L
-
Dimensions9.8 x 0.5 x 12 inches
-
PublisherOrchard Books
-
Publication dateSeptember 1, 2001
-
ISBN-100439287197
-
ISBN-13978-0439287197
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now
Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Download to your computer
|
Kindle Cloud Reader
|
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
- The Pout-Pout FishBoard book
- If Animals Kissed Good NightBoard book
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?Bill Martin Jr.Board book
- The Very Hungry CaterpillarBoard book
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Board Book)Bill Martin Jr.Board book
- Grumpy MonkeyHardcover
Customers who bought this item also bought
- The Pout-Pout Fish (A Pout-Pout Fish Adventure, 1)Hardcover
- Grumpy MonkeyHardcover
- The Wonderful Things You Will BeHardcover
- The Rainbow FishHardcover
- The Gruffalo (Picture Books)Hardcover
- If You Give a Mouse a CookieHardcover
Special offers and product promotions
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
With this rhyming, poignant (in a cartoonish way) tale, Giles Andreae, author of Rumble in the Jungle, and numerous other picture books, shows insecure young readers that everyone can be wonderful, even those that march to the beat of a different cricket. The rhymes are somewhat awkward, but the bold, bright watercolors by Guy Parker-Rees will invite readers to kick up their heels and find their own internal harmony. (Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
Andreae's ode to a different drummer stumbles when it preaches about uncovering your own beat, but is ferned along by enough sweet verse and Parker-Rees' dazzling colors that it almost pulls its own weight. Gerald the giraffe's legs are too spindly for dancing, they are always buckling at the knees when it comes to the old soft-shoe. And while all the other creatures show some mean moves at the Jungle Dance ("The chimps all did a cha-cha/with a very Latin feel,/and eight baboons then teamed up/for a special Scottish reel"), poor Gerald is hooted off the dance floor before he even has a chance to crumple. As he shuffles homeward, and as he stopes to admire the moon, a cricket suggest that "just need a different song." So, to the sound of the wind in the trees, Gerald starts to move: a gentle swaying, some circling, ans some swishing. Suddenly he commences to belt out Olympic-quality gymnastic moves--"Then he did a backward somersault/and leapt up in the air"---that blows the other animals away. But probably not readers, even the youngest of whom will want to know just why Gerald's legs didn't buckle this time, special music or not. Bad enough that in a story about rhythm, the verse doesn't always scan--but mus Gerald srike the Travolta pose? Gerald doesn't find himself, he simply learns how to mimic.---Kirkus Reviews, July 1st 2001All the jungle's got the beat, but Gerald the giraffe has four left feet. Such is the dilemma in this British team's bouncy if didactic picture book about self-esteem. As a multitude of fleet-footed beasts eagerly "skip and prance" at the annual Jungle Dance in Africa, Gerald feels sad "because when it comes to dancing/ he was really very bad." Jeered by waltzing warthogs and cha-cha-ing chimps when he attempts to cut a rug, Gerald hangs his head and leaves the celebration behind. Luckily, a friendly cricket appears in the moonlight, chirping a morale-boosting song of self-confidence that soon sets Gerald in graceful motion. Andreae's rhyming text has a jaunty rhythm that's likely to spark interest in the read-aloud crowd, in spite of a heavy-handed message. Parker-Rees's kicky depictions of slighly anthropomorphic animals boogying on the dance floor are the highlight here. His watercolor and pen-and-ink artwork exudes a fun, party vibe. --Publishers Weekly, September 10th, 2001A clumsy giraffe is instantly transformed into an exceptional dancer when he finds music that he loves. Gerald has tall, thin legs, which are good for standing still, but when lie tries to run, his crooked knees buckle. At the annual Jungle Dance, lie is laughed off the floor. A cricket tells him that "...sometimes when you're different you just need a different song." This advice enables the lonely creature to dance, much to the amazement of the other animals. The rhythmic text follows a pattern of four lilies per stanza. Some rhyme and others do not. Some flow smoothly; others are forced. One line states that, "He threw his arms out sideways. - - ." Huh! Giraffes don't have arms. Full-page color illustrations done in pen and ink and watercolor are bold and warm. Characters are whimsical and expressive, but they don't make up for the drastic and unbelievable turnaround that takes place upon hearing the cricket play his violin. For stories about individuality, stick with Helen Lester's Tacky the Penguin (1988) and Three Cheers for Tacky (1994, both Houghton) or Robert Kraus's Leo the Late Bloomer (HarperCollins 1971) and Owliver (Prentice-Hall, 1974; o.p.).---School Library Journal, October 2001
From the Inside Flap
Fortunately, there is one little creature who believes in Gerald. "Everything makes music", says the cricket, "if you really want it to". So Gerald starts swaying to his own sweet tune.
With light-footed rhymes and high-stepping illustrations, this tale is gentle inspiration for every child with dreams of greatness.
From the Back Cover
Fortunately, there is one little creature who believes in Gerald. "Everything makes music", says the cricket, "if you really want it to". So Gerald starts swaying to his own sweet tune.
With light-footed rhymes and high-stepping illustrations, this tale is gentle inspiration for every child with dreams of greatness.
About the Author
Guy Parker-Rees has illustrated many bestselling Orchard books, including K IS FOR KISSING A COOL KANGAROO and THE CHIMPANZEES OF HAPPYTOWN by Giles Andreae; DOWN BY THE COOL OF THE POOL, DINOSAURUMPUS!, and ALL AFLOAT ON NOAH'S BOAT by Tony Mitton; QUIET! by Paul Bright; and THE HIPPO-NOT-AMUS by Tony and Jan Payne. He lives in Brighton, England.
I'd like to read this book on Kindle
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Product details
- Publisher : Orchard Books; 1st American edition (September 1, 2001)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 32 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0439287197
- ISBN-13 : 978-0439287197
- Reading age : 4 - 8 years
- Lexile measure : AD570L
- Grade level : Preschool - 3
- Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 9.8 x 0.5 x 12 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#2,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Children's Dance Books (Books)
- #13 in Children's Social Skills
- #231 in Children's Humor
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The rhyme and rhythm, colorful illustrations and multitude of animals are so captivating.
I have purchased more than 5 copies so far and plan to continue gifting this book for years to come!
Guy Parker-Rees illustrated the text with colorful pictures that compliment the plot line.
I would not hesitate adding Giraffes Can’t Dance to my K-12 Christian school library.
Giraffes Can’t Dance was purchased as possible literary support for one of our summer fundraisers.
It's all about the way we perceive others and the way we can make others feel so very bad by making fun of them.
It is a heartwarming story that I bought in hardback so we can reread it through out her young years.
She is now just three but can read a little of it herself.
he LOVES this story so much she pushed to learn words so she could read it to me. Gilbert even has a wood pull TOY giraffe and a stuffed giraffe named after him.
Buy this for ANY child from 1 year to 6! They will LOVE " GIRAFFES CAN'T DANCE". I PROMISE!