Zarafa is a beautiful and gentle giraffe . . . so wonderful, in fact, that the ruler of Egypt offers her as a gift to the king of France! But how to get her there? Why, she sails up the Nile by felucca, crosses the sea by brigantine, and, yes, walks the last five hundred miles to Paris. People love it. And they love her, meeting and greeting her along the way, cheering her on. Afterward, the grateful French king places Zarafa in his own royal garden, where all of Paris comes to visit and love her. Judith St. George (So You Want to Be President?) brings this amazing?but true?journey to life with help from the whimsical art of Britt Spencer.
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St. George recounts a true story of a giraffe’s journey from infancy to fame in this handsome picture book. In 1824 the viceroy of Egypt, wanting the two countries to be good friends, decided to give the king of France a giraffe, an animal of unimaginable exoticism at the time. The story follows Zarafa as she sailed on a tiny boat down the Nile to Alexandria, boarded a much bigger ship to cross the Mediterranean, and then walked more than 500 miles with her beloved handlers to be presented to the king. Although there isn’t much drama other than charting Zarafa’s moods, which, according to St. George, were almost uniformly cheerful, Zarafa’s sensational impact on the people around her is readily apparent on every page. Spencer’s winsome artwork, though verging on stereotype at times, is the highlight here, with scenes of cheering and amazed crowds surrounding the placid and magnificent Zarafa. Even if giraffes are ho-hum for some children, the sheer exuberance caused by the animal’s spectacle at every step of her journey is undeniably infectious. Grades 1-3. --Ian Chipman
Review
In her trademark witty yet informational style, St. George relates this epic journey with a jaunty text and quick, parenthetical quips. ---Kirkus Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Susie
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I use Five in a Row curriculum with my daughter in our home school. One of the books that is suggested is The Giraffe that Walked to Paris, which is a wonderful book. I was able to check it out of our library via Inter Library Loan, but was not able to obtain a copy of my own as it has been out of print for quite some time, Folks were asking $100 on average (I see they have come down now). I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Zarafa printed! This is the same story (told just a bit differently) about the same giraffe and the same journey (which is true, buy the way). The pictures are lovely too. It is not a perfect fit for our FIAR studies, but it is a nice substitute. I have no problem recommending this lovely book to anyone.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Our whole family loves this book about the real giraffe who walked to Paris. It is an amazing story. I recently saw a French collection of white on white quilts from the 1700's, one of which had a giraffe stitched into the pattern!
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