Summary: Giraffe is bored, as usual. He'd love a friend to share things with. So he writes a letter and sends it as far as possible across the other side of the horizon. There he finds a pen pal called Penguin. Giraffe knows nothing about penguins and his letters are full of questions. Where is a penguin's neck? Can a penguin fly? Penguin answers as best he can. But no one expects what happens when the pen pals come face to face at last. Yours Sincerely, Giraffe is a funny tale of mistaken assumptions and friendship.
This international bestseller is an endearing illustrated chapter book about an African giraffe and his pen pal, a penguin. It's hard to imagine someone you've never seen... Giraffe is bored, as usual. He'd love a friend to share things with. So he writes a letter and sends it as far as possible across the other side of the horizon. There he finds a pen pal-Penguin. Giraffe knows nothing about penguins and his letters are full of questions. What does a penguin look like? Where is a penguin's neck? And so the letters begin to fly from horizon to horizon. Yours Sincerely, Giraffe is a funny tale of mistaken assumptions and friendship.
Giraffe is bored, as usual. He'd love a friend to share things with. So he writes a letter and sends it as far as possible across the other side of the horizon. There he finds a pen pal called Penguin. Giraffe knows nothing about penguins and his letters are full of questions. Where is a penguin's neck? Can a penguin fly? Penguin answers as best he can. But no one expects what happens when the pen pals come face to face at last. Yours Sincerely, Giraffe is a funny tale of mistaken assumptions and friendship.
*Starred Review* Giraffe should be content; he has plenty to eat and a comfortable home. But he's bored and wonders what lies over the horizon. Upon seeing Pelican's sign for his new delivery service, Giraffe gets the idea to write a letter to someone on the other side. He instructs Pelican to give the letter to the first animal he sees over the horizon, and so Penguin becomes the lucky recipient of Giraffe's note, courtesy of his local messenger seal. Letters go back and forth between Giraffe and Penguin, and Giraffe grows curious about what his correspondent looks like. Hilarity ensues as Giraffe and Pelican, neither of whom has ever seen a penguin, search the missives for clues so they can dress Giraffe to look like Penguin. When at last the pen pals meet, what a surprise awaits! But who cares how they look? Through their letters, a lasting friendship has developed between the animals. The combination of short narrative, dialogue, letters, and humorous pen-and-ink drawings is a winning one. For children who send or receive few letters, the book's a great introduction to letter writing, although this isn't its main purpose. The gentle friendship story will leave readers feeling warm and fuzzy, making this early chapter book a great addition to any collection.--Petty, J. B. Copyright 2017 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
Giraffe, bored and looking for a friend, becomes pen pals with Penguin in this illustrated chapter book.Even though Giraffe has nice weather and plenty to eat in his home in Africa, he is bored because he doesn't have "an extra special friend." A notice from an also-bored pelican offering "to deliver anything anywhere" spurs Giraffe to write a letter introducing himself ("I'm famous for my long neck"), and he asks Pelican to deliver it to the first animal he meets on the "other side of the horizon." After a long flight, Pelican sees Seal. Seal delivers the letter to Penguin, since Penguin is "the only animalwho got letters.Most were from his girlfriend." This original, playful story unfolds with perfect pacing as Giraffe and Penguin start a pen-pal correspondence. (Penguin, not sure what a neck is, writes back: "I think maybe I don't have a neck. Or maybe I am all neck?") Giraffe and Pelican, reading Penguin's letters describing himself, are just as confused about what Penguin looks like. Hilarious deductive reasoning ensues. Young readers will love the silliness. Older readers (including adults) will relax in this gentle, judgment-free world of curiosity and discovery. Takabatake's fresh, unaffected line illustrations create a seamless collaboration of art and words. This is a rare book: joyful, ingenuous, playfully earnest, but without a whiff of studied cuteness. (Fantasy. 7-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.