Cover Image: The Chalk Giraffe

The Chalk Giraffe

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Member Reviews

The Chalk Giraffe is a story about thinking outside the box and seeing things from a different perspective. I love the illustrations and it's a cute story I'm sure kids will enjoy. Don't be surprised if they immediately want to go draw with chalk. 😉

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Nice illustrations, cute concept. I like the rhyme but I felt like the story was just a bit too long.

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A little girl draws a chalk giraffe, who becomes quite bossy and demands additional parts be added to his chalk world. She tries and tries to help him get what he wants, but she finally gets fed up and erases the whole thing. That night though, she feels bad and goes outside the next morning to create him again. It's a very cute story and it reminded me of "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie." My six year old found it very fun though. It inspired her to want to go draw, which was great!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my honest review.

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Lovely rhyming story with charming art - but why oh why did the other giraffe need to have girly eyelashes so we know she's a girl? Unnecessary gender coding aside, I did enjoy the book, and will probably be purchasing a copy for my library.

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Such an adorable book. Great rhymes. Cute illustrations. A wonderful story.

The imagination of a child can be so vivid and I feel this book showed that in a great style.

It also showed the value of friendship and the importance of patience.

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What a fun, imaginative book! A girl draws a chalk giraffe, then finds him unhappy and must fill his world with things that please him. However, tired of his complaining, the girl erases him and goes to bed. The next morning she re-draws him, then he brings her into his world to see why he is grumpy. The rhyming text is clever and the drawings are engaging. I highly recommend this book!

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ARC Copy...a good and beautifully illustrated creative play on...what would happen if a chalk creation comes to life getting abit on the picky side and the artist has immense control over the world the chalk creation occupies.

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A children's story about imagination, frustration, and sympathy. Beautifully written story and great illustrations. Does a lot to draw children in and ask questions.

Thank you Netgalley for the Arc

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What happens when your chalk drawings get a personality? This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a chalk giraffe with a little bit of attitude. My boys 3, 6 and 7 loved this story. The 6 and 7 year old took turns reading the pages while my three year old looked at the pictures. They laughed at everything the giraffe complained about and loved all the drawings of all the animals. What a great story!

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This is such a cute story about a chalk drawing coming to life. He gets a little too demanding and then our artist shows him who’s boss. After she calms down she ends up seeing the world from the drawing’s perspective and decides to make some necessary changes. My absolute favorite part of this book is the illustration. The illustrations are so bright and colorful on the dark background and I love the chalky texture. It fits so well with the story and just makes a beautiful artistic medium in itself.

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Possibly the cutest kids book I have read since joining NetGalley! Love the art work, the rhythm, and the words.

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I love to see a kids picture book in rhyme! This one works so well too, the rhythm and cadence of the text perfectly complementing the bright,bold pictures. A little girl draws a giraffe out of chalk and together they realize that having friends makes everything much better. Cheerful, bright and never preachy. Loved it!

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This is a really cute book! The illustrations are done very well and are very colorful. The story is really cute and kids will love it. I think many children could relate to the imaginative aspect of the story.

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I loved the artwork and the rhyming was good. The grouchy, fickle giraffe taught the little girl to see things from his perspective where she then understood his feelings. He was lonely, but once he got a friend he began to be happy. Would be a good book for story time or before bed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Capstone Editions for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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My 4 year old son and I sat down and read this book. He loved the pictures, as well as the story. It entertained him. A couple of my other kids came over, 10, 10 and 12 and they enjoyed it as well. Two of my children are deaf so the book lended itself well to them to be interpreted in ASL.
The only thing that stopped each of them was the word Forlorn that was used twice. They were not sure what that meant. They figured it out due to the story line.
It was a fun read and something that would be a staple illustrated simple read that they all will enjoy in the future as well.

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I was given a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book!

It reminds me of a cross between the old Nickelodeon show Chalkzone and If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. It is also a helpful reminder not to judge the wishes of others until we have a full understanding of their situation.

The book was a big hit with my son who has been drawing chalk giraffes out back all afternoon!

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I think the premise of this book is cuter than the book itself ultimately turned out to be. A little girl draws a giraffe with chalk, and the creature starts talking to her. Okay, that's fine. Unfortunately, the giraffe is entirely unpleasant, complaining constantly, and the girl eventually has enough and smudges it out with her shoe. The next day, though, she feels guilty and redraws the giraffe. Inexplicably, she's suddenly part of the chalk drawing, and there she realizes that the giraffe is lonely. So she draws it a whole jungle full of friends. That's still not enough. The giraffe then draws himself a girlfriend, and all is right with the world.

I guess there's something to be said about promoting heteronormative relationships as a cure-all, but I won't bother going into that here. There are enough problems with the rest of the book... including the terribly clunky meter of the rhyming text. There are also some issues with punctuation. The text could probably be improved if more attention were paid to the technical details of the writing.

The illustrations are probably the best thing about the book, but aside from the dark "chalkboard" background, the pictures don't really look all that chalky. (There's really no excuse for this these days. There are plenty of chalk brushes available for programs like Photoshop, which would've made the illustrations look much more like authentic chalk drawings.) The pictures are cute and very colourful, but at times they rely too much on the text. (For example, when the girl goes into the drawing, she suddenly has "stick legs and arms". It's one of those "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" things, because she looks exactly the same otherwise, and if the text hadn't mentioned it, I might not have noticed. I would've preferred to see her look more like a child's drawing so that it would be clearer when she was in the imaginary world.)

Overall, I didn't like this one as much as I thought I would. The giraffe is annoyingly whiny, and the drawings don't look much like chalk. The premise is cute and creative, but a good premise alone doesn't make a great picture book.

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A young girl decides to draw a chalk giraffe one day and look! it comes to life right there on the ground. The little artist is excited for her new friend, that is, until he starts complaining about what she does and doesn't draw for him. The artist and the giraffe soon get a bit fed up with one another, but after some time apart and a little help from her giraffe, she begins to understand why the giraffe feels the way he does. Lovely picture on understanding teamwork and the importance of different perspectives. Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for the eARC.

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