The Warm Place [Hardcover]

Nancy Farmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

When Ruva, a young giraffe, is captured and sent to a zoo in San Francisco, she calls upon two rats, a street-smart chameleon, a runaway boy, and all the magical powers of the animal world to return to "the warm place" that is home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Farmer, whose The Ear, the Eye and the Arm received a 1995 Newbery Honor, confirms her place among the most inventive YA writers of the day with this rollicking tale. Ruva, a baby giraffe kidnapped by poachers, despairs of ever again seeing her mother or her home in central Africa. Fortunately, during the ocean crossing she meets up with Rodentus von Stroheim the Third, a most unusual rat who takes it upon himself to educate her. She puts his training to work at the horrible Dante's Zoo outside San Francisco, learning to trust her instincts in finding her home (the "Warm Place"), practicing giraffe magic (disappearing into the background) and, finally, escaping with the help of a smart-mouthed chameleon named Nelson and a Templeton-esque rat named Troll. The motley crew stows away on an Africa-bound yacht, but the journey home is fraught with peril, not the least of which are the evil Slopes, a family of demons who have enslaved Jabila, a runaway boy searching for a "Warm Place" of his own. Following in the grand tradition of Roald Dahl's fantastical James and the Giant Peach, Farmer's tale careens from one over-the-top situation to the next; laced with dry humor and populated by memorable characters, it is pure delight. Ages 9-11.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6?Ruva, a young wild giraffe, is captured and taken to a San Francisco zoo. She thinks only of returning to Africa, and with the help of a scruffy rat named Troll and a cynical chameleon, Nelson, she makes her way back to the same boat, the Apocalypso, commanded by the evil Slope family, that brought her to America. On board, her old friend and tutor Rodentus von Stroheim the Third, and a young boy, Jabila, work together with the animals to carry out a plan to free themselves from the tyranny of their captors. The plot is fresh and fast-moving, and many of the details inventive?Strangleweeds and Gross Green Sea-Going Sargasso Snails play a large part in the group's eventual freedom, and intriguing Biblical stories told from the animals' point of view add interest. However, grumpy Nelson's anti-female bias quickly becomes tiresome. Children new to animal fantasy should respond well to the book's sense of adventure and excitement, and to the feel-good ending. Although this is not quite in the same league as such modern-day classics as Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Atheneum, 1971) or Dick King-Smith's animal stories, it does showcase yet another side of the multifaceted author who created the highly original The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (Orchard, 1994).?Ellen Fader, Oregon State Library, Salem
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY); 1St Edition edition (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531068889
• ISBN-13: 978-0531068885
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,728,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor Books: The Ear the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which, in 2002, also won the National Book Award. Other books include Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, the Trolls trilogy and three picture books for young children. She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and lives with her family in Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Damian's review, April 28, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Warm Place (Paperback)

Have you ever wondered what being a giraffe is like? Have you ever wondered about what you would do if you were taken from your family? I did, and so did some of the characters in this book.

In the book, The Warm Place, a baby giraffe was taken from her mother to be put in a zoo. On the way she meets a friend named Rodentus who teaches Ruva many things. Ruva left her friend Rodentus and was put in the zoo. While Ruva was resting, she saw some kids throw something into her cage. It was a chameleon named Nelson. Ruva and Nelson picked the lock to her cage, but it still failed to work. Nelson found a rat named Troll and at night, Troll picks the lock and Ruva manages to escape (with Nelson and Troll).

I like this book because it is a very well written book and I think the author (Nancy Farmer) did a great job describing it. I also like it because it isn't just an adventure book, but it's also a fantasy book and I really like the way the author wrote it. My favorite character is Troll because if Troll wasn't there to pick the lock Ruva would still be locked up in the cage. It's a great book for kids ten and over.

Will Ruva get caught? Will she escape from the zoo? If Ruva escapes how will she get home? Read The Warm Place to find out!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even an adult can enjoy reading this book, December 1, 2006

By 

Mindy Block (www.qualityparks.org) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Warm Place (Paperback)

It's been a few years since I read the story, but I still think back fondly on the characters, descriptions and story. Even an adult can enjoy reading this book. Nancy Farmer does a good job in switching between young adult and stories for young adults. It's a must RE-READ for me, especially when we review our own children's story (How Parsley Saved the Farm) before sending it out to publshers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Katys Review, April 28, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Warm Place (Paperback)

" We caught the giraffe!!!!!!!" said the slopes as they caught their aim. They had caught a little baby giraffe. How would that feel to you? Well, I know because I just read The Warm Place by Nancy Farmer.

This book is about a little giraffe named Ruva who gets captured by the slopes and brought to an American zoo. She is terrified at the crowd that comes to look at her, and being put in the cage right next to the lion's den scares her even more. She makes some great friends, which include two rats, a magic chameleon and a boy. She wishes she could go home and be with her mother again. All of a sudden she remembers her mother telling her about giraffe magic. How will giraffe magic help Ruva?
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My favorite character in this book is Ruva because she's a little giraffe that does not know a lot about the world. My favorite part is when Nelson (the chameleon) shows Ruva how the lions won't bother him by walking into their cage and taking some of their meat.

Will Ruva ever be with her mother again and live in happiness? What will Ruva do with her amazing giraffe magic? Read the book to find out.