Giraffes can't dance. Bye Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
Based off this title page, what do you think the book is going to be about?
Let's find out
Gerald was a tall giraffe whose neck was long and slim. But his knees were all a crooked and his legs were rather thin.
He was very good at standing still and munching shoots off trees. But when he tried to run around, he buckled at the knees
Now every year in Africa they hold the Jungle Dance, where every single animal turns up to skip and prance.
And this year when the day arrived poor Gerald felt so sad because when it came to dancing, he was really very bad.
The warthogs started waltzing and the Rhinos rock 'n' rolled. The Lions danced a tango that was elegant and bold.
The chimp all did a cha-cha with a very Latin feel, and eight baboons then teamed up for a splendid Scottish reel.
Gerald swallowed bravely as he walked towards the floor, but the lions saw him coming and they soon began to roar
"Hey, look at clumsy Gerald" the animals all sneered. "Giraffes can't dance you silly fool!" "Oh, Gerald, you're so weird."
Clumsy is a vocabulary word. What does clumsy mean?
Gerald simply froze up. He was rooted to the spot. They're right, He thought I'm useless. Oh, I feel like such a clot
So he crept off from the dance floor and started walking home. He never felt so sad before- so sad and so alone
Then he found a little clearing and he looked up at the sky. "The moon can be so beautiful," he whispered with a sigh
"Excuse me!" coughed a cricket who'd seen Gerald earlier on. "But sometimes when you're different, you just need a different song"
"Listen to the swaying grass and listen to the trees. To me the sweetest music is those branches in the breeze.
"So imagine that the lovely moon is playing just for you- everything makes music if you really want it"
With that the cricket smiled and picked up his violin. Then Gerald felt his body do the most amazing thing
His hooves started shuffling making circles on the ground. His neck was gently swinging and its tail was swishing around
Gently is a vocabulary word, what does gently mean?
What do you think Gerald is going to do next?
He threw his legs up sideways and he swung them everywhere. Then he did a backward somersault and leapt up in the air
Gerald felt so wonderful his mouth was open wide. I am dancing. Yes. I'm dancing. I am dancing Gerald cried
Then one by one each animal who'd been there at the dance arrived while Gerald boogied on and watched him quite entranced
They shouted it's a miracle
We must be in a dream Gerald's the best dancer that we've ever ever seen
How do you learn to dance like that? Please Gerald tell us how. But Gerald simply twirled around and finished with a bow
Then he raised his head and looked up at the moon and stars above. We can all dance
He said, "when we find the music that we love."
How would you feel if you were told you couldn't do something?
What is something specially you can do?
What is the message Gerald sends?