About the Author

Giles Andreae (Author) Giles Andreae is the author of many top-selling, award-winning picture books. These include Elephant Me, Rumble in the Jungle, Commotion in the Ocean and I Love My Mummy. However, it is for the international bestseller Giraffes Can't Dance that he is best known. Giles is also the creator of Purple Ronnie, Britain's favourite stickman, and of the artist/philosopher, Edward Monkton. These two ranges of greetings cards, books and merchandise have made Giles the country's top-selling living poet. Giles lives with his wife, Victoria, a children's clothes designer, and their four children by the river in Oxfordshire.Guy Parker-Rees (Illustrator) Guy Parker-Rees' exuberant and energetic illustrations have made him a household name and one of today's bestselling children's illustrators. Notable successes include picture book classic Giraffes Can't Dance, a worldwide bestseller; Spookyrumpus, winner of the Sheffield, Dundee and Portsmouth book awards, and most recently, Elephant Me. Guy lives in Brighton with his wife and three sons.

Reviews

a joyful read about an outsider who finds acceptance on his own terms.... there's also a simple moral about tolerance and daring to be different. - JuniorThis delightful picture book is written in lively rhyming text with vivacious illustrations. - JuniorA rhyming story with superb illustrations... wonderfully funny. - IndependentWitty match of rollicking rhyme and bold colour. - GuardianA fantastically funny and wonderfully colourful romp of a picture book. All toddlers should grow up reading this or hearing their parents read it aloud to them. - Daily Telegraph

All the jungle's got the beat, but Gerald the giraffe has four left feet. Such is the dilemma in this British team's bouncy if didactic picture book about self-esteem. As a multitude of fleet-footed beasts eagerly "skip and prance" at the annual Jungle Dance in Africa, Gerald feels sad "because when it comes to dancing/ he was really very bad." Jeered by waltzing warthogs and cha-cha-ing chimps when he attempts to cut a rug, Gerald hangs his head and leaves the celebration behind. Luckily, a friendly cricket appears in the moonlight, chirping a morale-boosting song of self-confidence that soon sets Gerald in graceful motion. Andreae's rhyming text has a jaunty rhythm that's likely to spark interest in the read-aloud crowd, in spite of a heavy-handed message. Parker-Rees's kicky depictions of slightly anthropomorphic animals boogying on the dance floor are the highlight here. His watercolor and pen-and-ink artwork exudes a fun, party vibe. Ages 3-6. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

a joyful read about an outsider who finds acceptance on his own terms.... there's also a simple moral about tolerance and daring to be different. - JuniorThis delightful picture book is written in lively rhyming text with vivacious illustrations. - JuniorA rhyming story with superb illustrations... wonderfully funny. - IndependentWitty match of rollicking rhyme and bold colour. - GuardianA fantastically funny and wonderfully colourful romp of a picture book. All toddlers should grow up reading this or hearing their parents read it aloud to them. - Daily Telegraph