Helping Species Survive

The Great Giraffe Rescue: Saving the Nubian Giraffes 

by Sandra Markle

40 pages; ages 9-12

Millbrook Press, 2023

Didn’t we just talk about giraffes a couple of weeks ago? Ah, yes – but those were math giraffes, and these are Nubian giraffes. And they have a problem. “People,” says Sandra Markle, “were destroying giraffe habitats as they dug into the land for its natural resources or cleared it for farms, roads, and homes.” Add to that the threats from oil drilling – well, you can see why giraffes might need a bit of help. 

When oil drillers laid out plans to begin drilling in one part of Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park, wildlife scientists knew they had to move giraffes to another part of the park to preserve the population. There was only one small problem: to get to the other part of the park required crossing a river, and there was no bridge.

What I like about this book: I like how Sandra Markle sets up the problem (how do you move a herd of giraffes) and then shows how wildlife scientists solved it. Along the way she includes a lesson on giraffe biology, “Nubian Giraffe 101” and plenty of sidebars. Readers learn how interconnected giraffes are with the trees and savanna. The illustrations make you feel like you’re right there in the field with the wildlife scientists and conservation workers.

Raising Don: The True Story of a Spunky Baby Tapir 

by Georgeanne Irvine 

36 pages; ages 8-12

‎San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press, 2022

When a baby tapir is born, everyone at the zoo is excited – except his mom. She wants nothing to do with him. A first-time mother, maybe she was surprised by his birth? wondered the animal caretakers. So they snuggled and fed the cute spotty and striped baby and named him Don.

But how can people teach a young tapir what he needs to know to survive? For one thing, tapirs learn to swim from their moms. Don’s humans got him started in swimming lessons by enticing him into a kiddie’s wading pool. They slowly introduced him to new animals. And bit by bit, Don began to learn the ways of his species.

What I like about this book: I like the honesty about what’s involved in raising a zoo baby by hand. And author, Georgeanne Irvine shares the inside scoop, as she has worked at the San Diego Zoo. I also like that backmatter highlights things families can do to help wildlife.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by the publishers.

This Giraffe teaches Math

Giraffe Math

by Stephen Swinburne; illus. by Geraldo Valério 

40 pages; ages 4-8

Christy Ottaviano Books (Little, Brown & Co), 2023

theme: giraffes, math, interactive

Do you like giraffes? Do you like math? What if you put them together?

Twiga, a young reticulated giraffe, acts as a tour guide to the world of giraffes – and math! From their ossicones to their hooves, tongue length and spot pattern, we learn about the wonderful way giraffes have adapted to their environment. And we get lots of cool facts, like a single hoof is as big as a medium pizza! (I really should not write reviews before breakfast!)

What I like about this book: What a fun way to make math concepts accessible. Take the first spread about height: there’s the facts (13-20 feet tall), a comparison to other animals (including a third-grader), and an introduction to triangles. How do triangles figure in giraffe math? So glad you asked. Imagine a thirsty giraffe at a watering hole. With long legs and a not-quite-so-long neck. They spread their legs and bend their neck… and if you look at them from the front, they look like a triangle. What sort of triangle depends on how tall they are. You can see how math just sort of worms its way into a book about giraffes. I mean – there’s a whole spread about patterns!

I also like the artwork. The illustrations were created with paper collage, acrylic paint, and color pencil and they positively invite children to take a closer look! There is also back matter, with information about the giraffe’s lifecycle and where they live in Africa (and a range map), a glossary, some metric conversions, and a pop quiz to see what you remember. There were no questions about pizza!

I wanted to know more about Steve’s writing, so I asked him a Couple of Questions:

Me: Why - and when - did you decide to write the book from the giraffe's point of view? 

Steve: Twiga was in my first draft of the manuscript. Right from the start, I heard this voice, this narrator, a giraffe that wanted to tell its own story. Who better to introduce readers to fascinating facts about giraffes and their relationship to other creatures than the animal itself. I wanted the book to be a kid-friendly guide to giraffes, and I realized that a friendly, welcoming giraffe named Twiga would be the perfect tour guide to the world of giraffes. Of course, Twiga means giraffe in the Swahili language. 

Me: What about kids who love giraffes and hate math? (That would be me!) I want my math sneaked up sideways on! I don't want to know it's even there...

Steve: It’s SO ironic that a guy who disdains math, hated math in school, has an aversion to arithmetic, writes a book with MATH in the title. Thank goodness, Twiga is there to help me with the numbers. I was a kid who hated math in school and I wish I had had this book that uses a giraffe’s gentle voice and lots of cool natural history to ease me into understanding some early math concepts like measurements, shapes, percentages, etc. It’s like the song says, “Just a teaspoon of sugar makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way!” So for the kid who hates math, my advice is let Twiga be your guide to some very cool giraffe facts with just a smidgen of math.

Me: Yes! I wish I had a Twiga to help me learn some math. Thank you, Steve. Now let’s go…

Beyond the Books:

Learn more about giraffes. You can find books at your library, and get lots of great information from the Giraffe Conservation Foundation – where you can even adopt a giraffe! They even have a downloadable workbook with all sorts of activities.

If you were a giraffe, what sort of spot pattern would you have? Draw your own unique spot pattern. Then, if you want to, head over to this page to see how well you do spotting the differences between real giraffe coat patterns.

Not all giraffes are born with spots! Just recently a spotless giraffe was born in a zoo in Tennessee. Check out this article from NPR.

Steve is a member of #STEAMTeam2023. You can find out more about him at his website. 

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday once they resume. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.