LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
Giraffe is different to look at. She has six legs and 3 ears. Both are useful and she is happy having extra legs for crunching through leaves and extra ears for listening to birdsong. But she is not happy that when she is out playing with other animals they make her feel an outsider.
Everything changes when the seeker in a game of hide-and-seek played by an exuberant flock of beautifully multi-coloured birds discovers her hiding behind a tree. Just as Giraffe is a giraffe and a half so the bird is a bird and a half. She has three wings and three legs.
When Giraffe explains that no one wants to play with her because she is different, the bird offers excellent advice: ‘Just show yourself off to the world./ Be Proud and Strong and Brave and Bold’.
It’s a powerful message for Giraffe and also for all readers.
Julia Eccleshare M.B.E
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About
Giraffe and a Half Synopsis
Giraffe and a Half believes her difference stops her from making friends, but can Bird and a Third help her to overcome her shyness?
Giraffe and a Half has six legs and three ears, which is brilliant for dancing and listening, but not so good for making friends. But one day, playing on her own, she meets Bird and a Third, who knows that sometimes, it’s our insecurities that hold us back the most.
This delightful story will encourage children to embrace their differences. Based on Nicola Kent's own experiences as a child with disabilities, and her belief that although ongoing health issues can bring many challenges to life, having lovely friends doesn’t need to be one of them.
Nicola Kent says, "The mantra to stand ‘Proud and Strong and Brave and Bold’ is one I want to share with other children with physical differences. We are all made up of so many components and a physical difference is only one of them. From my own experience, I know that ongoing health issues make many aspects of life very challenging. But having lovely friends doesn’t need to be one of them."
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781839132759 |
| Publication date: |
2nd November 2023 |
| Author: |
Nicola Kent |
| Illustrator: |
Nicola Kent |
| Publisher: |
Andersen Press Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
32 pages |
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Author
About Nicola Kent
Nicola Kent is an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books. She won the Independent Booksellers’ Best New Illustrator Award (2019) and has been shortlisted in both the World Illustration Awards and the Teach Primary Book Awards. She lives in London with her partner, two children, a cat and a dog, and a very untidy desk
More About Nicola Kent
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“As a child I had to spend a month in intensive care, and the tubes that ventilated me badly damaged my airway, so when I recovered from the initial illness, I was left, for many years, without any voice.
This badly diminished my sense of self and I became very self-conscious. Back at school, I felt shy and less worthwhile as a friend. My old friends stuck by me, but I avoided anyone new. Then one day, one of my old friends said to me, “If you said hello to them, they might talk to you.”
I had assumed I was doing others a favour by holding back and hiding away. But the next time I was with a larger group, I said hello (in my very quiet way), and sure enough they began to include me. They had been waiting for my cue. My emotional relationship with my difference had been more of a social barrier than the difference itself.
In time I understood that others didn’t see my difference as defining me and that I didn’t have to either, but that it seemed to help other people if I took the lead on how they should respond to it.
The mantra to stand ‘Proud and Strong and Brave and Bold’ is one I want to share with other children with physical differences. We are all made up of so many components and a physical difference is only one of them. From my own experience, I know that ongoing health issues make many aspects of life very challenging. But having lovely friends doesn’t need to be one of them.” - Nicola Kent
