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Giraffe

Families of all Sorts

The world’s first quintilingual book has premiered — that is, a book that’s written in five languages at once. It’s called Am I Half Giraffe?, written by Dr. Jungmiwha Bullock and illustrated by Christopher Matthews. Here’s the press release: “Am I Half Giraffe? debuts globally on Lexique Du Monde Press as the first quintilingual book on the children’s book market — five languages, one book, one diverse story. It speaks to the childhood experiences that most children confront about their identities, especially among those who are ever questioned about ‘being different’. It touches on the subtle forms of bullying with regard to diversity, while at the same time teaches a powerful message that the main protagonist in the book figures out.” That protagonist is a young girl whose father is a lion and whose mother is a giraffe — and who must learn to deal with what her fellow school-kids think about that. Find out more about the genesis of this book, and where to find it, at the official web site.

image c. 2015 Christopher Matthews

image c. 2015 Christopher Matthews

Gordon Was Different…

Gordon the Giraffe is a new full-color trade paperback from Arcana Entertainment, written by Bruce Brown and illustrated A. Shelton. It tells the story of Gordon, a young giraffe who discovers that he’s different from other giraffe kids… and how the other kids learn to accept that. Here’s the description from Word of the Nerd: “In the jungle where Gordon lives, there is a special game that the giraffe children play with each other (much like 1-on-1 volleyball, but with bananas). Gordon’s issue is that, instead of playing banana volleyball with a girl giraffe, he finds it much more fun to play the game with Gary. So the other boys decide to play a trick on Gordon. When that trick backfires, it is up to Gordon to rescue the other boy giraffes.”  This new storybook comes out in early July.

image c. 2012 Arcana Entertainment

Strangeness from the World of Advertising

Recently DirecTV has been running a series of ads featuring a very, very rich gentleman from Russia, showing off his indulgences — including, of course, DirecTV. But the thing that has seemed to get the most attention in the ads is sort of in the background: A little, miniaturized giraffe the fellow has for a pet. Everyone seems to have noticed the little guy, and they’re talking about him on line. So much so that someone (presumably DirecTV) has given the “petite lap giraffe” his own web site!  “Welcome to world wide famous Sokoblovsky Farms. The best and only breeders of Petite Lap Giraffes” says the introduction. There are lots of funny pseudo-Russian-isms used, of course (“To be clicking here!”). In addition to historical backgrounds and information about purchasing your own lap giraffe, there is also a 24-hour “Giraffe-Cam” where you can watch the petite bull Vladamir in his enclosure. Yes really.

 

image c. 2011 petitelapgiraffe.com