Giraffes Ruin Everything, but this book makes it all better

Giraffes Ruin Everything, it’s true.  Many years ago Richard Pryor had a routine that made a parallel illogical and entertaining jump that snakes will make you run into trees. Giraffes Ruin Everything is a children’s book that ages 3 to 8 will howl with laughter at. Parents will like the book too because it teaches kids a valuable lesson that they might have trouble learning the first time.

Our 6 year-old’s grasp on behavior and consequences is improving. In hind sight there were soft turns where he realized what his strengths, weaknesses are and that its best to put yourself in situations where each of these things are focused on or mitigated. He knows that other kids can do things better than him and that he’s really great at doing other things.

That is one of the lessons that Giraffes Ruin Everything teaches. Teaches is such a wonky term in children’s books because it’s not done in a text book way that leads kids to roll their eyes.  This is teaching through big bright illustrations that are funny, full of color and utterly absurd. I mean really, even his younger brother knows that you don’t take a giraffe to the movie theater, do you?

No, I assured him that he will, never, ever see a giraffe in a movie theater.

In Giraffes Ruin Everything we meet a 7 year old boy who demonstrates why a giraffe will ruin any situation that they enter. At a birthday party they’ll spill juice on your favorite shirt and won’t even apologize. They’re inconsiderate, clumsy, frustrate their friends and are the one who usually ends up getting the kite stuck in the tree.

Snakes make you run into trees.

Spoiler alert: The 7 year old boy is the giraffe.

The pacing of the book is such that the first time that kids read it they’re genuinely surprised at the big reveal.  It also helps punch the giraffe twist by having it occupy two full pages. Nobody is perfect are they? Sure, you and I know that, but a 6 year takes a while to truly learn it, in addition to multiple presentations.

Giraffes Ruin Everything is a wonderful good-night book. Each page has lots of color; the art is fun, expressive and something that any age will immediately warm to. The book also leaves you with a smile-and a possible sequel. One of our favorite books, On My Way To Bed, has the same method of story- telling where the character imagines things all the way through only to have a new, but similar issue rear its head at the end. Anyone 3 and up will really like Giraffes Ruin Everything will enjoy reading this book over and over. For most parents it will stay in the children’s library until it becomes the grand children’s library.  Giraffes Ruin Everything is written by Heidi Schulz with illustrations by Chris Robertson.