Kameel-Perd Wat So Lag (Laughing Giraffe) by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway
Laughing Giraffe, originally published in English, has recently been translated into Afrikaans (Kameelperd wat so Lag), isiZulu (Undlulamithi oHlekayo) and isi-Xhosa (Undlulamthi Ohlekayo).
Without knowing that the author grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and that he grew up in a wild garden full of gazelles, porcupines and warthogs, one could have assumed it was a locally crafted tale. The familiarity of the story’s setting and the wild animals are probably some of the reasons the publisher chose it for translation.
The story is about a giraffe who was, once upon a time, one of the noisiest animals on the great plains of Africa. It shouted and laughed all the time and frequently scared some of the other creatures out of their wits.
This all changes when the Littlest Egret challenges Giraffe to see who is the loudest. In the unfolding contest those with an axe to grind with Giraffe become Egrets allies.
In the end Giraffe is silenced and one does feel a bit sorry for the long-neck. The moral of the story is that those who make the biggest noise are not necessarily those who are the best heard.
Beautiful illustrations of wild animals add to the book’s message and give young readers the chance to extend their vocabulary beyond the written words.
Young readers may be challenged by the book, but will undoubtedly enjoy working and phonetically sounding their way through longer words. This book can be recommended for classroom book corners.