Giraffes Can't Dance

This is Hands Down, 2 Thumbs Up a great book to have!! Love this book, and so do my little ones! It's sturdy, nice thick board book pages, the pages are bright and colorful, and the story is great! I have actually had this book before and I ended up getting it again! The story is cute and exciting. It expresses how we are all special in our own ways and sometimes we just need different music. Definitely recommend!!

One of my favourite books to read again and again, great story and message for little ones!

This is a beautiful little illustrated rhyming story book with a great moral. There is a definite rhythm to the wording, and if you use the same rhythm as you read the book, you will see that it does, indeed, rhyme throughout. There are some reviewers who think that the moral for the story is all wrong - that Gerald the giraffe is bullied by the other animals until he "conforms." But, in my opinion, that is not the moral of the story at all. Rather, the moral is that if you aren't like everyone else, don't try to emulate them to fit in (this is highlighted pretty robustly for a kids' board book - for instance, each of the animals all have their own signature dance, and they are accepted, even though they all do different dances). Gerald the giraffe is depressed that he deesn't fit in with the other animals, and he expresses that feeling, which is a natural feeling that we'll all have at some point in our lives. But, he doesn't give up on himself. With a little encouragement, he finds his own different and special dance (platitude: he marches to the beat of a different drum), and the other animals are amazed by it. Moral: he isn't accepted because he conforms to some standard set by the other animals, he's accepted because he is true to himself. This point is hit again when he won't show the other animals how he's learned to dance - he doesn't want them to conform to his new standard, which allows them the opportunity to find their own dance and be true to their own selves. The point is then driven home by the closing rhyme: "We all can dance," he said. "When we find music that we love." It handily reminds us that every child is different. Many will like the book and will get the positive message, and many will not like the book. But that's OK - we all dance to different music.

My 3 year old loves giraffes and when I saw this book, I knew she'd be excited to read it. The story is about Gerald, a giraffe who isn't the best dancer, and how he has low self esteem about his dance skills because the other animals made fun of him and his clumsy dancing. Gerald feels sad and a cricket, who had been watching him, encourages him to find the music he loves inside himself and dance to it his way. Once he followed this advice and let go of what other animals thought and danced to the beat of his own drum so to speak, he found he really could dance and at the party he impressed the other animals by being himself. I absolutely love the morals of this story because they apply to all people, old and young: when you let the opinions of others get to you, you begin to doubt yourself and become so self conscious that you forget to be yourself; and you may not be the best at any given activity, but if you do your personal best and believe in yourself, you will shine anyway. Gerald was able to let go of the opinions of others when he was alone in the field with the cricket and he found his own rhythm and realized he really could do what others said he couldn't do. He started to believe in himself and it showed as he did his best dancing. The morals make great conversation starters with your children about what things they have doubted themselves about and why it's important to believe in yourself. This book touches on bullying and the negative feelings it brings in an easy to understand way for young children as well and opens dialogue about what the animals could have done differently instead of laughing at Gerald. I love the rhyming text and the bright and engaging illustrations. I like that the pages are made of thick cardboard since it's a board book and I don't have to worry about her bending or tearing the pages. Overall, this is an awesome book with a great message!

Let me start by saying that I absolutely love this book, and so does my daughter. The rhymes are lovely (except for a slight break in rhythm on the very last one), the pictures are fun and full of great detail, and the story about finding oneself and not succumbing to peer pressure and stereotypes is great and important! However... I really think the cricket does not get enough credit! In fact, Gerald almost becomes a bit cocky in the end, as if he had achieved this feat of realizing his potential all by himself, when, in fact, without the cricket he still wouldn't believe in himself. And here I think the book misses a great opportunity to emphasize the value of friendship, empathy, and helping others. Luckily, this can be fixed very easily. I therefore added a final rhyme to the book that I think adds to the value. I hope others may find it useful as well. It goes as follows: Just sometimes we need a friend to help, to find out song and tune. And to the cricket Gerald said: I found mine, thanks to you! :)

Sweet book

Every toddler needs a great board book

This a great story and very bright colorful pictures. Rhymes well together and book is a perfect length. My 3 month old loves this book and it’s not always the easiest to get him to focus in longer books but I’ve read it multiple times to him and he still hasn’t became bored. Highly recommend.