The Trouble with Giraffes

Can a pet giraffe be any problem?

Author: Lisa Mantchev,

Illustrator: Taeeun Yoo

Part of The Pet Club Series

Published by: Simon & Schuster due September 2025

ISBN: ISBN 9781665962766

Copy of the book kindly provided via Edelweiss. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal views.

Ages: 4+ Pages: 32 Themes: friendship, inclussion, animals, pets

Description:

Image from: Edelweiss

Publisher's book summary:

A girl and her pet giraffe are friends despite their difference in size in this tender picture book companion to the bestselling and acclaimed Strictly No Elephants.

A girl knows having a pet giraffe poses some difficulties, like finding a way to take walks together with legs very different in length. And her giraffe doesn’t fit into the clubhouse door for Pet Club. But the Pet Club members come together to find a way for him—and everyone—to be included. Because that’s what friends do.

What I liked about the book:

Image from: Edelweiss

A lively, amusing story about friendship, inclusion and helping others.

I liked the first person narrative: a girl, her pet giraffe and her cheerful disposition towards problems. The use of simple vocabulary, as a girl would use, makes the story easy to understand for young readers. The Trouble with Giraffes is a window to the importance of friendship and childhood, the use of imagination, love for animals, the value of opinions, team work and inclussion.

The illustrations are adorable, full of colors and details! They took me back to my early years and the celebration of simple things in life.

Ideas to work with the book:

The story can be used to:

• learn/ review adjectives and opposites

• talk about pets

• talk about animals

• talk about friendship

• predict/suggest solutions

• talk about expressing one's opinion while respecting other's

• talk about the purpose of clubs

About

The author:

Lisa Mantchev is the author of many picture books, including the internationally acclaimed Strictly No Elephants and The Trouble with Giraffes, both illustrated by Taeeun Yoo; Remarkables, illustrated by David Litchfield; and Someday, Narwhal, illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Lisa lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Learn more at Lisa Mantchev

The Illustrator:

Taeeun Yoo has twice received the prestigious New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award. She has illustrated many books, including Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev. She is also the illustrator of Kitten and the Night Watchman by John Sullivan. Her other books include So Many Days and Only a Witch Can Fly, both by Alison McGhee, and Round by Joyce Sidman. Taeeun was also the recipient of the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Society of Illustrators’ Founders Award. She lives in South Korea with her family.

© Paola Dell'Acqua Un Viaje en Libro 2025