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Tall Blondes: A Book about Giraffes
Hundreds of books have been written about dogs and cats. Dozens about lions and tigers and bears. But how many non-scholarly books have been written about giraffes-one of nature's most intriguing and unique animals? None. Until now.
You know Lynn Sherr as a veteran journalist and as a leading correspondent for the ABC news magazine 20/20 , but you probably didn't know that she has been an avid giraffophile since a visit to the African wilderness nearly twenty-five years ago.
The days of the giraffe being overlooked and under-appreciated are over with the publishing of Tall Blondes,a one-of-a-kind book about a one-of-a-kind animal. The giraffe's unusually long neck and legs make it one of the most recognizable creatures on our planet. But it also possesses a wide range of other fascinating and endearing traits and features. And while most giraffes are blondes , they come in beautiful arrays of red, brown, and even white.
Sherr traces the cultural history of the giraffe, from it's first appearance in Europe in 46 B.C. (thanks to Julius Caesar) through medieval bestiaries and up to the modern giraffe star of a TV movie. The book is not just about giraffes in the it's about how they have impacted on humans (and visa versa), stirring the imaginations of artists, writers and thinkers. Taking a whimsical approach to her very serious subject, Sherr has filled it with little-known tidbits, awe-inspiring photographs and drawings, and intriguing tales about the world's tallest land animal.
Read it, and you'll not only learn about why Sherr (a tall blond herself) has fallen head over heals for this gawky but graceful animal-you'll fall in love too.
You know Lynn Sherr as a veteran journalist and as a leading correspondent for the ABC news magazine 20/20 , but you probably didn't know that she has been an avid giraffophile since a visit to the African wilderness nearly twenty-five years ago.
The days of the giraffe being overlooked and under-appreciated are over with the publishing of Tall Blondes,a one-of-a-kind book about a one-of-a-kind animal. The giraffe's unusually long neck and legs make it one of the most recognizable creatures on our planet. But it also possesses a wide range of other fascinating and endearing traits and features. And while most giraffes are blondes , they come in beautiful arrays of red, brown, and even white.
Sherr traces the cultural history of the giraffe, from it's first appearance in Europe in 46 B.C. (thanks to Julius Caesar) through medieval bestiaries and up to the modern giraffe star of a TV movie. The book is not just about giraffes in the it's about how they have impacted on humans (and visa versa), stirring the imaginations of artists, writers and thinkers. Taking a whimsical approach to her very serious subject, Sherr has filled it with little-known tidbits, awe-inspiring photographs and drawings, and intriguing tales about the world's tallest land animal.
Read it, and you'll not only learn about why Sherr (a tall blond herself) has fallen head over heals for this gawky but graceful animal-you'll fall in love too.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1997
6 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Sherr
19 books20 followersBroadcast journalist and writer Lynn Sherr has been swimming since she was a toddler, learning first by watching frogs in a Pennsylvania lake. She has since expanded both her strokes and her waterways. For more than thirty years, she was an award-winning correspondent for ABC News. She is the author of many books, including Tall Blondes: A Book about Giraffes; Outside the Box: A Memoir, and Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words. She lives in New York.You can contact her at LynnSwims@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter@LynnSherr and at Facebook.com/SallyRideBio.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 9, 2022
Stopped reading about halfway through. The hunting chapter filled me with rage. Why the hell would someone who loves giraffes include a chapter consisting almost entirely of long rambling quotes from bloodthirsty bastards who got off on killing them?
No thanks, and I don’t even care if my one-star rating for this book is all because of one chapter. One star forever, book.
No thanks, and I don’t even care if my one-star rating for this book is all because of one chapter. One star forever, book.
July 23, 2013
After reading Sherr's 2012 book, Swim: Why We Love the Water, I had overly high expectations for this book. While I did learn fascinating factoids about giraffes, the book didn't have the personal touch that made Swim so enjoyable, perhaps because Sherr offers no frame story to breathe life into all the cultural history about giraffes. This book often seems like an outline for a research report, especially chapters that do little more than list her favorite quotes about giraffes. It makes for a easy-to-put-down book with very few pages without indented, italicized quoted passages. Liked it. Didn't love it.
---
Despite all I've said, I learned numerous things about giraffes. Here are my favorites:
"They are the tallest quadrupeds." (10) Males reach 18 ft. and weigh 1.5 tons. Females reach 16 ft. and weigh .5 ton. The tallest was 19'3".
Each "cloven hoof [is] the size of a dinner plate." (10)
"They are one of the only animals born with horns, which can number up to five" (11)
"Giraffes are not mute. They have vocal chords but rarely use them. They don't need to. Their monumental size lets them see and communicate readily with their eyes." (11)
"They have no tear ducts but have been seen to cry." (11)
"They have never been seen to bathe." (11)
"They sleep only about a half hour a day--usually in the form of five-minute giraffe naps." (11)
When walking, "giraffes move both right legs at once, then both left...For the gallop (up to 35 MPH), all four legs seem to leave the ground at once and the neck pumps along rhythmically." (12)
"Mating is a brief event, with no apparent emotional attachment, leading to a fifteen-month pregnancy. In the wild, giraffe moms-to-be are modest, seeking privacy to give birth. / They do so standing up. In an hour or so, the baby is born, or rather dropped--nearly six feet tall and often up walking within fifteen minutes." (12-13)
Its scientific name is camelopardis, "which literally describes a camel's body wearing a leopard's coat." (16)
"In 1805 a dealer named George Wombwell brought the first live giraffes to England. From 1826 to 1828, live giraffes arrived in Paris, London , and Vienna, each a gift from the pasha of Egypt to the reigning monarch. The animal sent to Vienna was welcomed with a grand formal ball and a newly invented dance best translated as the giraffe trot." (36)
"The most likely scenario is that about five million years ago, as the climate in Asia and Europe grew cooler and dryer, animals that had evolved from Palaeotragus and Bohlinia (or perhaps from a common ancestor) ambled back to Africa. Thus, modern giraffes may well be immigrants to the continent we now see as their homeland." (40)
"The giraffe's heart is an enormous two feet long and twenty-five pounds" (50)
"The giraffe walks with both legs on a side moving in tandem--in other words, right rear, then right front, then left rear, then left front" (52)
"Atop the head are knobby horns, or, more properly, ossicones, bumps of cartilage, covered with skin and hair, that start out as plates under the skin, then grow, ossify, and fuse to the skull. Both male and female giraffes have horns, but the bull has three, and they get larger and heavier as a result / of frequent head banging. Some giraffes have five horns, for reason not yet fully understood." (53, 55)
"Giraffes also play host to a number of birds, most notably the oxpeckers, or tick birds, who roam their enormous bodies in search of ticks...In addition, black piapiacs sometimes hitch a ride to snap up insects from the surrounding airspace." (59)
"After fifteen months in the womb, babies, or calves, are born headfirst and dropped six feet to the ground from the standing mom. Boom. Welcome to earth. The calf itself weighs close to 150 pounds and measures almost / six feet tall; it is usually up on its spindly legs within an hour, a vital defense against a hungry enemy." She relates an anecdote of a giraffe that was up and running in a few minutes to escape a predator. "Even so, predators (and disease) claim about 75 percent of all babies within the first year." (65-66)
"Immediately after birth, the giraffe cow moves her calf a short distance to an area of safety. Here the calf is completely isolated from all other giraffes for a period which may last as long as a month. During this time, the calf stays in the area, lying down and moving very little. The cow returns two to three times a day to allow the calf to nurse. She may go up to 15 miles away from the hidden calf for water or food." (69)
"Giraffe 'necking'...[is] play fighting or even serious combat that entails swinging their necks at each other and striking body blows with the head...these are practice dominance matches, preparing the animal for the day when it may use the sledgehammer force of the flexible club that is its neck with the added weapon of its bone-hard horns, to defeat and outrank another bull." (71)
"'A male's head can weigh 24 pounds, three times that of a nonfighting female, and the force of one of these blows may lift an opponent clear off his feet.' - Emily and Ola D'Aulaire, wildlife writers, 1974" (72)
"one of the longest pregnancies in the animal world--about fifteen months--a condition that is still difficult for humans to detect. Cows bear their first calf when they are about five years old, and have been known to deliver up to ten babies over the course of a lifetime." (74)
"Finally, their brains. Are giraffes smart? Does it matter? It has been suggested that they may communicate with their necks and tails, in a kind of mammalian semaphore system. Or / that they may use ultrasonics, a high-pitched signal, to contact each other." (74-75)
"'What kind of person can shoot a giraffe? It can't be for sport, because giraffe just stand there and look at you through long eyelashes.' Betty Leslie-Melville, giraffe raiser, 1977" (95)
"When the sultan of Egypt wanted to fortify his ties with Florence" and Lorenzo de'Medici, "he sent [a giraffe] along in November 1487...For several years the sweet-tempered visitor entrances the citizens of Florence, nibbling fruit from the hands of young girls and poking its head into second-story windows for apples during daily walks through the city." (100)
In 1826, King Charles X was gifted a giraffe by the pasha of Egypt. "In Marseilles she was a grand celebrity, dressed in a special body cloth decorated with the arms of France. She was the subject of a daily column in the newspaper; she was the coveted star of numerous dinner parties given by the prefect's wife, during which honored guests in evening clothes would troop off to her stable to observe her by torchlight. Regular folks could see her during her daily promenade, a 12-2p.m. event that drew hordes." (104) Conversely, in 1827, George IV of England, who was gifted a giraffe from the pasha of Egypt at the same time was often mocked for his giraffe by political pundits.
"While there I learned that some 90,000 visitors have come to [Kenya's] Giraffe Manor, now an educational center operated by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. Schoolchildren are a special priority, especially African school children, since the center claims that 85 percent of Africans have never seen wild animals." (117)
"'She lifted her face and saw him, even taller than she had expected, his neck so long, his delicate nose so high, that / a person could imagine him nibbling at stars.' Gladys Schmidt, 'Consider the Giraffe,' 1978" (135)
---
Despite all I've said, I learned numerous things about giraffes. Here are my favorites:
"They are the tallest quadrupeds." (10) Males reach 18 ft. and weigh 1.5 tons. Females reach 16 ft. and weigh .5 ton. The tallest was 19'3".
Each "cloven hoof [is] the size of a dinner plate." (10)
"They are one of the only animals born with horns, which can number up to five" (11)
"Giraffes are not mute. They have vocal chords but rarely use them. They don't need to. Their monumental size lets them see and communicate readily with their eyes." (11)
"They have no tear ducts but have been seen to cry." (11)
"They have never been seen to bathe." (11)
"They sleep only about a half hour a day--usually in the form of five-minute giraffe naps." (11)
When walking, "giraffes move both right legs at once, then both left...For the gallop (up to 35 MPH), all four legs seem to leave the ground at once and the neck pumps along rhythmically." (12)
"Mating is a brief event, with no apparent emotional attachment, leading to a fifteen-month pregnancy. In the wild, giraffe moms-to-be are modest, seeking privacy to give birth. / They do so standing up. In an hour or so, the baby is born, or rather dropped--nearly six feet tall and often up walking within fifteen minutes." (12-13)
Its scientific name is camelopardis, "which literally describes a camel's body wearing a leopard's coat." (16)
"In 1805 a dealer named George Wombwell brought the first live giraffes to England. From 1826 to 1828, live giraffes arrived in Paris, London , and Vienna, each a gift from the pasha of Egypt to the reigning monarch. The animal sent to Vienna was welcomed with a grand formal ball and a newly invented dance best translated as the giraffe trot." (36)
"The most likely scenario is that about five million years ago, as the climate in Asia and Europe grew cooler and dryer, animals that had evolved from Palaeotragus and Bohlinia (or perhaps from a common ancestor) ambled back to Africa. Thus, modern giraffes may well be immigrants to the continent we now see as their homeland." (40)
"The giraffe's heart is an enormous two feet long and twenty-five pounds" (50)
"The giraffe walks with both legs on a side moving in tandem--in other words, right rear, then right front, then left rear, then left front" (52)
"Atop the head are knobby horns, or, more properly, ossicones, bumps of cartilage, covered with skin and hair, that start out as plates under the skin, then grow, ossify, and fuse to the skull. Both male and female giraffes have horns, but the bull has three, and they get larger and heavier as a result / of frequent head banging. Some giraffes have five horns, for reason not yet fully understood." (53, 55)
"Giraffes also play host to a number of birds, most notably the oxpeckers, or tick birds, who roam their enormous bodies in search of ticks...In addition, black piapiacs sometimes hitch a ride to snap up insects from the surrounding airspace." (59)
"After fifteen months in the womb, babies, or calves, are born headfirst and dropped six feet to the ground from the standing mom. Boom. Welcome to earth. The calf itself weighs close to 150 pounds and measures almost / six feet tall; it is usually up on its spindly legs within an hour, a vital defense against a hungry enemy." She relates an anecdote of a giraffe that was up and running in a few minutes to escape a predator. "Even so, predators (and disease) claim about 75 percent of all babies within the first year." (65-66)
"Immediately after birth, the giraffe cow moves her calf a short distance to an area of safety. Here the calf is completely isolated from all other giraffes for a period which may last as long as a month. During this time, the calf stays in the area, lying down and moving very little. The cow returns two to three times a day to allow the calf to nurse. She may go up to 15 miles away from the hidden calf for water or food." (69)
"Giraffe 'necking'...[is] play fighting or even serious combat that entails swinging their necks at each other and striking body blows with the head...these are practice dominance matches, preparing the animal for the day when it may use the sledgehammer force of the flexible club that is its neck with the added weapon of its bone-hard horns, to defeat and outrank another bull." (71)
"'A male's head can weigh 24 pounds, three times that of a nonfighting female, and the force of one of these blows may lift an opponent clear off his feet.' - Emily and Ola D'Aulaire, wildlife writers, 1974" (72)
"one of the longest pregnancies in the animal world--about fifteen months--a condition that is still difficult for humans to detect. Cows bear their first calf when they are about five years old, and have been known to deliver up to ten babies over the course of a lifetime." (74)
"Finally, their brains. Are giraffes smart? Does it matter? It has been suggested that they may communicate with their necks and tails, in a kind of mammalian semaphore system. Or / that they may use ultrasonics, a high-pitched signal, to contact each other." (74-75)
"'What kind of person can shoot a giraffe? It can't be for sport, because giraffe just stand there and look at you through long eyelashes.' Betty Leslie-Melville, giraffe raiser, 1977" (95)
"When the sultan of Egypt wanted to fortify his ties with Florence" and Lorenzo de'Medici, "he sent [a giraffe] along in November 1487...For several years the sweet-tempered visitor entrances the citizens of Florence, nibbling fruit from the hands of young girls and poking its head into second-story windows for apples during daily walks through the city." (100)
In 1826, King Charles X was gifted a giraffe by the pasha of Egypt. "In Marseilles she was a grand celebrity, dressed in a special body cloth decorated with the arms of France. She was the subject of a daily column in the newspaper; she was the coveted star of numerous dinner parties given by the prefect's wife, during which honored guests in evening clothes would troop off to her stable to observe her by torchlight. Regular folks could see her during her daily promenade, a 12-2p.m. event that drew hordes." (104) Conversely, in 1827, George IV of England, who was gifted a giraffe from the pasha of Egypt at the same time was often mocked for his giraffe by political pundits.
"While there I learned that some 90,000 visitors have come to [Kenya's] Giraffe Manor, now an educational center operated by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. Schoolchildren are a special priority, especially African school children, since the center claims that 85 percent of Africans have never seen wild animals." (117)
"'She lifted her face and saw him, even taller than she had expected, his neck so long, his delicate nose so high, that / a person could imagine him nibbling at stars.' Gladys Schmidt, 'Consider the Giraffe,' 1978" (135)
August 13, 2021
As a reminder it is now 2021 and this book was written in 1997. Most of the information contained in the book is still pertinent; some information could be updated. Overall, the book was an interesting read with a moderate amount of pictures to look at. Some of the chapter names don't really give you a good indication of what is covered in each chapter. Below are some details about what is covered in most of the chapters.
To get the reader excited about what is to come, there is a small section at the beginning called Fast Facts about Giraffes. It is brief and enjoyable to read. Most of the facts are then emphasized in the upcoming chapters.
How the Giraffe Got His Name - (Giraffa Camelopardalis)
Only about one third of the chapter pertains to how the giraffe got its name. It compares the different body parts of the giraffe to various other animals such as the camel and leopard and at least ten other animals. A section of the chapter goes back in history and discusses paintings and drawings of giraffes in caves, huts and bamboo houses. Lastly, the end of the chapter covers the giraffe being used in pageants, circus games, and private animal collections.
How the Giraffe Got It's Neck
Half the chapter is dedicated to how the giraffe got its neck. Was it due to the fact of the giraffe stretching for higher and higher foliage, elongating its neck, and then passing it on to the next generation versus genetics. The other half of the chapter was actually more interesting and had nothing to do with the neck; it had to do with the spotting of the giraffes skin. The spots are used to sort the different species (at least nine) of giraffes and where they exist in the world. The spotting of the different species vary in size, shape, and color.
The Inner Giraffe
As someone with a medical background, I was intrigued reading this chapter. It was interesting, but really quite basic and too short for my liking in covering the anatomy and physiology of the giraffe.
Growing Up Giraffe
One section of the chapter covered the function of eating which included what and how much giraffes eat. It also discussed the function of the lips, tongue, teeth and stomach of the giraffe. Not sure why this wasn't discussed in the chapter "The Inner Giraffe". The second half covered the birth, first year, adolescence (play fighting by the males), mothering, courtship/mating of the giraffe.
Hunting the Giraffe
This was a sad chapter to read in which this beautiful, harmless animal was hunted for its meat and skin. Most of the reporting of the hunting took place in the 1800's. No mention is made of giraffe hunting today.
Famous Giraffes in History
There are short sections in this chapter discussing famous giraffes. Egypt wanting to fortify ties with Italy and then again later to improve relations with France sent a giraffe to each country. This was respectively discussed in the Renaissance Giraffe (1487) and The Giraffe Who Walked to Paris (1827). The year 1827 became known as "The Year of the Giraffe" with various items adorned with giraffes. In 1974, an American writer adopted and raised a giraffe - Daisy Rothschild - in the suburbs of Nairobi at Giraffe Manor. The American writer wanted to make sure that part of a herd of giraffes was not doomed for extinction. And then we have Victor (1977) in England who gave his life for his love. A sad story that I will let you read for yourself.
The Urban Giraffe
Interesting chapter reading about the modern zoo and how they maintain the world's animal population (and giraffe) and keeping them safe from predators. Also covered are the first zoos in America that obtained giraffes, the saga of how the National Zoo in Washington DC (1926) obtained their giraffes, and the zoo in America that has bred the most giraffes.
To get the reader excited about what is to come, there is a small section at the beginning called Fast Facts about Giraffes. It is brief and enjoyable to read. Most of the facts are then emphasized in the upcoming chapters.
How the Giraffe Got His Name - (Giraffa Camelopardalis)
Only about one third of the chapter pertains to how the giraffe got its name. It compares the different body parts of the giraffe to various other animals such as the camel and leopard and at least ten other animals. A section of the chapter goes back in history and discusses paintings and drawings of giraffes in caves, huts and bamboo houses. Lastly, the end of the chapter covers the giraffe being used in pageants, circus games, and private animal collections.
How the Giraffe Got It's Neck
Half the chapter is dedicated to how the giraffe got its neck. Was it due to the fact of the giraffe stretching for higher and higher foliage, elongating its neck, and then passing it on to the next generation versus genetics. The other half of the chapter was actually more interesting and had nothing to do with the neck; it had to do with the spotting of the giraffes skin. The spots are used to sort the different species (at least nine) of giraffes and where they exist in the world. The spotting of the different species vary in size, shape, and color.
The Inner Giraffe
As someone with a medical background, I was intrigued reading this chapter. It was interesting, but really quite basic and too short for my liking in covering the anatomy and physiology of the giraffe.
Growing Up Giraffe
One section of the chapter covered the function of eating which included what and how much giraffes eat. It also discussed the function of the lips, tongue, teeth and stomach of the giraffe. Not sure why this wasn't discussed in the chapter "The Inner Giraffe". The second half covered the birth, first year, adolescence (play fighting by the males), mothering, courtship/mating of the giraffe.
Hunting the Giraffe
This was a sad chapter to read in which this beautiful, harmless animal was hunted for its meat and skin. Most of the reporting of the hunting took place in the 1800's. No mention is made of giraffe hunting today.
Famous Giraffes in History
There are short sections in this chapter discussing famous giraffes. Egypt wanting to fortify ties with Italy and then again later to improve relations with France sent a giraffe to each country. This was respectively discussed in the Renaissance Giraffe (1487) and The Giraffe Who Walked to Paris (1827). The year 1827 became known as "The Year of the Giraffe" with various items adorned with giraffes. In 1974, an American writer adopted and raised a giraffe - Daisy Rothschild - in the suburbs of Nairobi at Giraffe Manor. The American writer wanted to make sure that part of a herd of giraffes was not doomed for extinction. And then we have Victor (1977) in England who gave his life for his love. A sad story that I will let you read for yourself.
The Urban Giraffe
Interesting chapter reading about the modern zoo and how they maintain the world's animal population (and giraffe) and keeping them safe from predators. Also covered are the first zoos in America that obtained giraffes, the saga of how the National Zoo in Washington DC (1926) obtained their giraffes, and the zoo in America that has bred the most giraffes.
February 28, 2017
First read: February 28, 2017
September 5, 2014
I purchased this book in the late 1990s when it first came out. It's sat on my bookshelf collecting dust ever since. I was initially attracted to it because: (a) I love, love, LOVE the clever title and (b) what maniacal person wouldn't like giraffes? They're such docile, interesting mammals. I figured one day I'd like to learn more about them, and this book should probably cover it. I also like how the book isn't traditionally shaped, it's long and slender, much like its four-legged subject.
So, after years of Tall Blondes gathering dust on my bookshelf, I finally decided it was time to read something completely different from a fictional novel or biography. If someone asked me what my favorite animal was, I probably wouldn't immediately think of or say "giraffe." I'm not obsessively crazy about giraffes, but upon much pondering, I think they're pretty fascinating and beautiful creatures.
Unfortunately, this book didn't provide me with the excitement for giraffes for which I was hoping. It felt like reading someone's research paper or dissertation. It was a compilation of anything and everything giraffe that's ever been said, written, or drawn throughout history. It contained quote after quote after quote, without much being written by the author herself to engage the reader. There also wasn't much coherence or chronological order to the chapters. Although this book was released in 1997, its contents would be the equivalent of someone Googling the word "giraffe" and reading through all of the results in the random order in which they're presented on the screen. It didn't really give me much insight into the giraffe itself, from birth to death, although some of the photos were very nice, and I loved reminiscing over giraffe-related Far Side cartoons.
I learned a few interesting facts and insights into giraffes, but not enough for me to recommend this book. That's the long and short of it.
So, after years of Tall Blondes gathering dust on my bookshelf, I finally decided it was time to read something completely different from a fictional novel or biography. If someone asked me what my favorite animal was, I probably wouldn't immediately think of or say "giraffe." I'm not obsessively crazy about giraffes, but upon much pondering, I think they're pretty fascinating and beautiful creatures.
Unfortunately, this book didn't provide me with the excitement for giraffes for which I was hoping. It felt like reading someone's research paper or dissertation. It was a compilation of anything and everything giraffe that's ever been said, written, or drawn throughout history. It contained quote after quote after quote, without much being written by the author herself to engage the reader. There also wasn't much coherence or chronological order to the chapters. Although this book was released in 1997, its contents would be the equivalent of someone Googling the word "giraffe" and reading through all of the results in the random order in which they're presented on the screen. It didn't really give me much insight into the giraffe itself, from birth to death, although some of the photos were very nice, and I loved reminiscing over giraffe-related Far Side cartoons.
I learned a few interesting facts and insights into giraffes, but not enough for me to recommend this book. That's the long and short of it.
March 10, 2012
Giraffes always make me think of my maternal grandmother. She was nuts about them. So is TV journalist Lynn Sherr and she shares her love affair with them in Tall Blondes, the book that later inspired the first episode of season 21 of Nature on PBS.
The giraffe like the platypus is so unusual in its size, shape and features that first hand accounts of it weren't always believed. They are social, docile, but can kill a lion with a few well placed kicks.
Sherr's book begins with her own history of meeting giraffes and moves then to the early history of mankind's accounts of the giraffe. From there the book goes through other themes, like giraffes as gifts and giraffes in the circus and at zoos.
I loved the many included illustrations that show either historic drawings of giraffes or photographs of famous giraffes. I also enjoyed the thematic groupings of the chapters.
Where the book fell flat, though, for me was in the many long quotations of famous people having something to say about giraffes. There are pages and pages like this and they completely gum up the flow of the book. After a few of these quotation only sections, I ended up skipping the rest.
The giraffe like the platypus is so unusual in its size, shape and features that first hand accounts of it weren't always believed. They are social, docile, but can kill a lion with a few well placed kicks.
Sherr's book begins with her own history of meeting giraffes and moves then to the early history of mankind's accounts of the giraffe. From there the book goes through other themes, like giraffes as gifts and giraffes in the circus and at zoos.
I loved the many included illustrations that show either historic drawings of giraffes or photographs of famous giraffes. I also enjoyed the thematic groupings of the chapters.
Where the book fell flat, though, for me was in the many long quotations of famous people having something to say about giraffes. There are pages and pages like this and they completely gum up the flow of the book. After a few of these quotation only sections, I ended up skipping the rest.
March 17, 2012
I love animals; in particular, I love horses, dogs, cats and giraffes. They all have in common beautiful expressive eyes. This is the second book I have read about giraffes recently and I’ll not read another. This was a factual account and again there was a lot of history reported, but the most interesting chapter was the first where it listed quick facts. A giraffe’s tongue is approximately 18” long. The male reaches a height of 18’ and weighs in at 1.5 tons. Females are usually around 16’ tall and weigh approximately .5 ton. They live up to age 30. Calves are born after a 15 month gestation period and stand 6 ft at birth. They are also born with horns. The female usually has two horns, males three and some even have as many as five. They are gentle giants and do not fight amongst themselves and threaten no other animal, although their hooves can and do become a violent and deadly weapon when fending off an enemy. They do not have tear ducts, although they have been seen shedding a tear. There are nine different color patterns. Although I found the writing dry, I enjoyed the full color pictures.
July 25, 2017
Most giraffe books are for children or are scholarly, zoological works. Sherr's short, volume is one of the few aimed at the general adult reader. There are short chapters about giraffe biology, giraffes in art and history, famous giraffes, ect. Profusely illustrated, and, like the animal, the book itself is tall and thin.
August 24, 2024
I read this recently and I wanted so badly to love it! I went to veterinary school and have adored and studied Africa and it's large mammals - namely elephants - for my entire life. The book itself was beautiful, absolutely stunning and creatively designed. I found it at Goodwilll and was so excited to learn something new about giraffes. Nope. This isn't a "book"... nothing is written! It's just SO many quotes and references to what OTHEE people have said and done. It reads more like a magazine or perhaps the posts of a Facebook group about giraffes. I'm so disappointed. I felt so drawn to the author because there aren't enough people like us that have been magnetically drawn to these incredible animals so I was ecstatic to discover this book... then I realized why it was donated to a thrift store instead of adourning someone's bookshelf with that beautiful cover design.
June 8, 2024
This book was given to me 20+ years ago by a thoughtful co-worker and I'm embarrassed to admit that I've only just read it. It's largely a collection of quotes about giraffes from famous and not-s0-famous people through history and with lots of photographs of paintings, sculptures and the like. On balance, an entertaining read.
May 15, 2017
Slightly out of date, but so entertaining - I do admit, though, I skipped the chapter on hunting. I loved reading about April's ancestors, and seeing all of the art and photographs of this most-delightful creature.
November 15, 2020
If you never knew about giraffes, you will learn so much about them. I love them but the things I learned about them that I really didn't know was amazing. A great read.
July 1, 2024
Giraffes do not care for major change, have few enemies, and do not seek to harm others. Seems like some qualities I would know about.
November 29, 2024
A kid could use this as a reference book for a report, but it was a pretty boring read.
January 4, 2025
Too many quotes
September 11, 2017
Pros: Loved the design of this book, inside and out! As for the contents, well written with humor, quotes, facts, history and of course beautiful pictures of giraffes. (Note: skipped the chapter 6 on hunting - glad it was included, but the reality is horrid)
Cons: Wish there was a single story to interweave and or connect the chapters. Felt the distinction of the chapters were too separate.
Cover Art: 5 out of 5 Brilliant!
Cons: Wish there was a single story to interweave and or connect the chapters. Felt the distinction of the chapters were too separate.
Cover Art: 5 out of 5 Brilliant!
November 17, 2015
This was an enjoyable read. When I selected it I hoped the title suggested a sense of humor about the subject. That was proven when I saw the first Gary Larsen "Far Side" cartoon at the beginning of the first chapter. Sheer peppers the book with cartoons, amusing pictures and cultural references that add to the facts and mythology of giraffes.
The book is organized into ten short chapters, each covering different aspect. For instance "How the Giraffe Got its Neck" and "Growing up Giraffe" are two of the chapter titles. Its an easy read, it would be great for a student as a place to start a research paper. It includes a five page bibliography of her sources. And for you non-readers there is a hour long documentary video available on Netflix narrated by the author.
The book is organized into ten short chapters, each covering different aspect. For instance "How the Giraffe Got its Neck" and "Growing up Giraffe" are two of the chapter titles. Its an easy read, it would be great for a student as a place to start a research paper. It includes a five page bibliography of her sources. And for you non-readers there is a hour long documentary video available on Netflix narrated by the author.
April 6, 2012
I love giraffes with a passion, yet so few books or wildlife documentaries focus on them. Big predators and dangerous herbavores, such as hippopotamus, get all the attention. Lynn Sherr, who shares my fascination with giraffes, has sought to remedy that. This book is a charmer with not only facts about giraffes, but anecdotes, folktales, ancient ethnic art featuring giraffes, and stories about a few giraffes that became famous. Not for those seeking hard science. But if you just want to squee over giraffes and enjoy learning about wildlife, you might like this one.
November 1, 2016
Considering I knew almost nothing about giraffes prior to picking out this book, I would say it much entertained and educated me. I was just curious to find out more on these creatures, and the book provided that. Giraffes are such great animals. I hope they thrive in and out of captivity in Earth's future.
January 12, 2008
Good especially for tall teens trying to honor their stature!
August 27, 2008
The reason for my trip to Giraffe Manor outside of Nairobi, Kenya!!!
June 7, 2012
Considering as a gift for my tall blond niece!
I gave it to her without finishing - based on the title.
I gave it to her without finishing - based on the title.
May 29, 2012
Found out there's a word for what I am: a giraffophile...well, not in the extreme sense, but I do love these "tall blondes" and enjoyed reading about them.
November 12, 2012
The author loves giraffes and makes an excellent case as to why we should as well. She manages to cram history, zoology, and pop culture into this short book.
June 24, 2013
Interesting and so cute!
July 25, 2015
Like the title says, it is a book about giraffes. I learned about giraffes but has a lot of quotes from other authors and started to skip them.
November 4, 2015
I love giraffes, hence the reason I picked up this book, but it was pretty dry and not really anything that new or interesting.
May 2, 2017
This is a delightful book written by an author who fell in love with giraffes during her first trip to Africa.
Watching the magical flight of a herd of giraffes as they seem to fly through the air, these lofty animals were a joy to behold.
When with facts and history regarding this majestic beast, I could not put the book down.
Watching the magical flight of a herd of giraffes as they seem to fly through the air, these lofty animals were a joy to behold.
When with facts and history regarding this majestic beast, I could not put the book down.
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