The Giraffe That Walked to Paris

by Nancy Milton, Roger Roth (Illustrator)

Retells the true story of how the first giraffe ever to come to Europe was sent by the Pasha of Egypt to the King of France in 1826, and the giraffe walked from the disembarkation point of Marseilles to Paris to see the King.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, France, History, Nonfiction, Animals, Africa

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess it's a common thing for Presidents and Kings to send each other animals! I'd heard that the ruler of Siam had written to Lincoln about elephants (to help him win the war, of course) but I didn't know that the ruler of Egypt had sent Charles X a giraffe in 1826.

This book tells the tale wonderfully. With a hint towards the comical, you'll learn how a giraffe traveled all the way from Egypt by boat to Marseilles, and then walked to Paris (wearing a hoodie!).

Loved the illustrations! Pages are a little wordy, so perhaps not the best read for little ones.

Ages: 5 - 9

#geography #france #paris #egypt

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[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story, but holy cow, that poor giraffe. Yeesh.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since watching a documentary about them when I was fifteen giraffes have been my favorite animal. Therefore I could not resist this book when I saw it at my favorite, local used bookstore, The Book Lady.
I never knew about this story and it is a fun, fascinating albeit small piece of world history. The story is told in a sweet, somewhat matter of fact way and the illustrations are gorgeous. I am glad I picked this up to add to our library!

[FM Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those books where it’s based on a true story so you read it and you’re like “huh, that’s cool that that happened” but you’re not really driven to read it again because it’s more like, hearing some cool information than really being transported into this world. My 4.5 year old enjoyed it but didn’t ask for it again, which was ok with me as it’s fairly long. Would be good to start up some interesting conversations though about how they might transport a giraffe nowadays and what your family thinks about people owning wild animals.

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely picture book that was recommended by my son's French course as an interesting cultural supplement. Pretty and well written. We enjoyed it.

In 1826, the ruler of Egypt decided to send the King of France a present. So he sent him a giraffe. This, of course, was problematic, because how do you get a giraffe from Egypt to Paris in 1826? After arriving in France by boat, the answer was to walk the giraffe there. 

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may interest older children as it is based on the true story of the first giraffe to come to Paris. I’m not sure it qualifies as pure non-fiction because I don’t know if all the conversations in this book were verified and documented. It is also fairly text-heavy so we read it over two days. Back-matter is included.

[Devera C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet again, this is a "picture book" that I would not consider as such. There are SO many words filled with a lot of historical information. For a toddler or pre-k child, it is too much. I would think this book is better suited for someone in 2nd grade or above. But, it is very informational and an interesting story.

[Perkins Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tells the true story of a giraffe gifted to the King of France from a pasha in Egypt in the 1800's. I hadn't heard this story before and it was captivating to read with my children. The artwork is detailed and fun to look at. The book is fairly wordy but my 5 year old son was not bored and listened without fidgeting to the whole book.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wordy but interesting

[Jenn O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting story about a little known fact in history. Would be good for a 1st grader doing their very first book report. Or a child interested in giraffes.

As an adult, I was interested in the epilogue on the true story, but a little creeped out by the taxidermy photo on the last page.

[Lady76]

Excellent! Highly reccomend for children!

[Scott Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the true story of a gift from the Egyptian Pasha to King Charles X of France.