The Giraffe Who Found Its Spots

Cute Art, Questionable Execution of the Message

This book has adorable art and tells a story that's relatable to anyone who's ever been shunned by their peers or felt they needed to fit in to gain acceptance. Sadly, that's a large number of children, and giving them encouragement to just be themselves instead of trying to change to appease others is a good thing.

The problem is: the message doesn't line up right with the story provided. The giraffe isn't trying to change himself most of the time; with exception for tying a twig to his head to pretend he had a rhino horn, he merely tried to find common ground with the other animals who cruelly shunned him for not being part of their species. Monkeys ignored him when he tried to find common ground of having a tail; cheetahs fled from him when he tried to find common ground of having spots; flamingos shunned him when he tried to show them he too could stand on one leg. All he tried to do was find things he had in common in order to make friends - something kids SHOULD be doing because that's HOW you make friends. If anything, maybe the lesson could have been about not being pushy, not barging in and instead approaching gently when trying to make new pals.

But instead, like so many books of its type, the “be yourself and get appreciated for it” lesson actually means that the giraffe is accepted by everyone who cruelly shunned him when suddenly his presence is useful to them. He wasn't “being himself” when he helped them reach something tall to save their party; he was doing a favour and suddenly being loved by what may as well have been his bullies. I hate that notion. I resent that instead of everyone at the party just realizing he was fun company after all, they needed to BENEFIT from his presence first.

So yeah. Cute book. Great art. Well-intentioned. Good message was written. But as executed, the ACTUAL message is... troublesome.