Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights, The

Modeled after The Wizard of Oz, this enchanting story describes a young giraffe who suffers from a fear of heights. On his way to the doctor, he befriends a monkey who is afraid of climbing and a hippo who is a afraid of water. What causes the three new friends to face and overcome their fears? The "For Creative Minds" section includes fun facts and animal adaptation information, as well as a "Match the Feet" game and a mix-and-match activity. Encourages children to overcome their fears and to help friends in trouble.

This fictional story includes a 5-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 25-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Written by David A Ufer, Illustrated by Kirsten Carlson
32 pg, 10 x 8.5, Ages 4-8, Grades PK-3, Lexile: AD 740, AR: 3.7, F&P: L

Reviews:

With soft illustrations and muted colors, this excellent picture books tells the story of animals that are afraid of the very things they should excel at. - Shelf Awareness

When a crocodile threatens the group, the animals' courage solves their problems with, shall we say, a natural cure. 'I recommend this book,' said Samantha, 'because it is about saving self and others.' - The Bloomsbury Review

Colorful illustrations bring the African savannah to life. A Creative Minds section at the end of the book engages young children in a game, activity and lots of fun facts! This is an all-inclusive book, perfect for young children. - Wee One's Magazine

Author/Illustrator Info:

David A. Ufer (The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights) says that this story has been floating around in his head for several years now and has spent lots of hours at the zoo watching some of these animals to get a feel for their behavior and personalities. David hopes that this book will help children overcome some of their own fears. He is looking forward to the day when he may be able to leave the corporate world behind and become a full-time author - perhaps writing and traveling across the country.

Kirsten Carlson is fascinated by animals and nature. Her background in biology, scientific illustration and design has given her the tools to share stories about the natural world through illustration. She believes illustrating children's books are a wonderful way to connect others to nature. Prior to illustrating Ocean Seasons, Kirsten illustrated The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights, also published by Arbordale. Kirsten lives in Gig Harbor, Washington near the shores of Puget Sound. Visit Kirsten's website.