Giraffe Trouble [Hardcover]

Jean Craighead George (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

A young giraffe living on the African plains learns how to be wise as well as fearless when a lion attacks.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-Considering the author of these two titles, the story lines are surprisingly dull and predictable. In Giraffe Trouble, young Cam wanders away from her mother and is just about to be attacked by a lioness when one of the other giraffes saves her. All ends happily, with Cam now being "both fearless and wise." Rhino Romp is basically the same story. Simu, a young rhinoceros, becomes lost. Suddenly all of the other animals of the savanna-zebras, elephants, gazelles-become alarmed and run away as an earth-shaking cloud of dust comes their way. Surprise, surprise, it is Simu's family and all ends well. Although the books are illustrated by different artists, the equally lifeless, full-colored paintings do nothing to enhance the texts. Since maps and descriptions of Disney's Animal Kingdom are also included, these titles will probably be featured in Disney's gift shops, but they don't belong on library shelves.
Rachel Fox, Port Washington Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Disney Press (May 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786850663
• ISBN-13: 978-0786850662
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,678,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jean Craighead George was born in a family of naturalists. Her father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near their Washington, D.C. home, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. In third grade she began writing and hasn't stopped yet. She has written over 100 books.Her book, Julie of the Wolves won the prestigious Newbery Medal, the American Library Association's award for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children, l973. My Side of the Mountain, the story of a boy and a falcon surviving on a mountain together, was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book. She has also received 20 other awards.She attended Penn State University graduating with a degree in Science and Literature. In the 1940s she was a reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the White House Press Corps. After her children were born she returned to her love of nature and brought owls, robins, mink, sea gulls, tarantulas - 173 wild animals into their home and backyard. These became characters in her books and, although always free to go, they would stay with the family until the sun changed their behavior and they migrated or went off to seek partners of their own kind.When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all went to the animals. They climbed mountains, canoed rivers, hiked deserts. Her children learned about nature and Jean came home and to write books. Craig and Luke are now environmental scientists and Twig writes children's books, too.One summer Jean learned that the wolves were friendly, lived in a well-run society and communicated with each other in wolf talk -- sound, sight, posture, scent and coloration. Excited to learn more, she took Luke and went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska, where scientists were studying this remarkable animal. She even talked to the wolves in their own language. With that Julie of the Wolves was born. A little girl walking on the vast lonesome tundra outside Barrow, and a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park were the inspiration for the characters in the book. Years later, after many requests from her readers, she wrote the sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.She is still traveling and coming home to write. In the last decade she has added two beautiful new dimensions to her words beautiful full-color picture book art by Wendell Minor and others and - music. Jean is collaborating with award-winning composer, Chris Kubie to bring the sounds of nature to her words.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning Book, April 9, 2009

By 

K. Oparil (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Giraffe Trouble (Hardcover)

I found this book wonderful for using to teach a child about how to summarize the plot of a book. It has a great rather simple plot, Cam the baby giraffe is too fearless and is careless about where he sleeps. A lioness tries to attack him but Cam's grandfather protects him. Cam learns to be more careful about his behavior. The book is needs to be a bit clearly to children about what lesson Cam learns and why he learns it. Otherwise, it's a fun book about animals with a simple story that could really be stretched if you were looking to work with a child on literacy study techniques.