Pajama Press

“Giraffe and Bird run with the same crowd, but a friendship it is not, or at least not quite yet and certainly not in the traditional sense of the word. One way or another they manage to compete against each other for the title of most obnoxious throughout the course of any given day bit just because they don’t shared each others clothes and gossip all doesn’t mean that they don’t have mutual respect for one another. The truth of this matter is exposed when one average day at the watering hole turns into a moment of embarrassment that sends one slightly awkward friend away with his head hung low. What created this sad turn of events? The thoughtless words or rather giggles and guffaws of another… good thing he has a friend willing to show his true colors in order to set them straight.”

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Author and illustrator Rebecca Bender has fashioned a delightful children’s picture book for kids ages 4 through 7. It is one thing for people to laugh with one another in unison and quite another thing to laugh at others. Seeing his friend humiliated and unhappy brings out Bird’s caring and creativity. Don’t Laugh at Giraffe covers both the good and the bad sides of laughter.

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You will need:

A batch of your favourite cupcakes

2 C icing sugar

1 Tbs margarine or softened butter

A small amount of milk

Food colouring to make yellow, blue, green, and orange

Chocolate chips

A mixing bowl

Four small containers

Five spoons

Two piping bags

(Alternate: use plastic bags with the corners cut off to pipe icing)

To make the icing:

1. Mix the margarine or butter with 1.5 C of the icing sugar.
2. Gradually add very small amounts of milk until the icing is smooth and spreadable.
3. If the icing becomes too runny, add more icing sugar.
4. Separate the icing into the four small containers, leaving a little behind in the bowl. Note that you will need more in the yellow and green bowls and less in the orange and blue bowls.
5. Stir food colouring into each container one drop at a time until the icing reaches the desired vibrancy.
6. You may choose to make the blue and white icing slightly runnier than the other colours, since it will be piped rather than spread.
7. Spoon the white and blue icing into piping bags.

To decorate the cupcakes:

This colourful picture book lives its message: one of the best antidotes for sadness is laughter. The illustrations by author/illustrator Rebecca Bender delight the reader even before the humorous and effective twist at the end of the story. A successful element in the interaction of text and image is that Bender bolds the important words—mainly the verbs—on each page. So with the bold verbs creating motion, and the energetic pictures showing action and emotion, what Bender has created is a very lively picture book for young readers, who will be able to pick out the bolded words and match them to the action in the pictures.

In the scorching heat of the African sun, Giraffe and Bird—best friends but always bugging each other—have a tussle and are hot and thirsty. Already, many young readers will identify with two friends who are so dissimilar but yet “you rarely see them apart.” When Giraffe has trouble bending all the way down to the water, and ultimately falls in, all of the animals—including Bird—laugh at him. True to the age of the readership, this hurts Giraffe’s feelings, and he goes away, sad and humiliated. Bird, an insightful little chap for all his flighty ways—soon figures out that there is something he can do to help his friend. No moralizing here, just a little bird thinking about how his friend obviously feels. Young readers will be able to internalize the lesson of empathy well, as it is so subtle; Bender does not preach at all, but merely shows her readers—largely with her beautiful illustrations—one option in this social situation. The answer Bird comes up with is to make a laughing stock of himself: he sings, he dances, he teases the other animals, he makes a complete fool of himself, laughing all the time with the animals he is teasing—even Giraffe. “Anyone can see that the bird loves the attention…and the giraffe finally has a drink…and the reader feels happy and giggly watching Bird floating on his back, spitting water up into the air.

Rating: E – Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!

—Karen Huenemann

Nearly 200 guests turned out for the second annual Pajama Press book launch, art show and sale. We had some good conversation, great food, and nine talented Pajama Press authors and illustrators in attendance. Thank you to everyone who came out—we hope to see you again next year!

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Pajama Press is proud to announce that three of our titles have been nominated for 2013 Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Awards.

Don’t Laugh at Giraffe by Rebecca Bender is nominated for the Blue Spruce Award. Last year, Rebecca won the Blue Spruce Award for her debut picture book, Giraffe and Bird.

No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs by animal activist Rob Laidlaw is nominated for the Silver Birch Nonfiction Award.

Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is nominated for the Red Maple Nonfiction Award.

For more information about the Forest of Reading Awards, visit the Ontario Library Association website at  www.accessola.com.

Our books have also been nominated for three other awards this year:

True Blue, a murder mystery by bestselling author Deborah Ellis, was nominated for the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre John Spray Mystery Award.

Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch was nominated for the British Columbia Red Cedar Nonfiction Award.

Congratulations to all of our nominated authors!

Download a PDF of the invitation

What would a party be without snacks? We’ve already shared our recipe for Muddy Puddle Slushies; now it’s time to make something fun and healthy that kids can really chew on.

Materials:

One carrot per three giraffe snacks

One plum tomato per Giraffe Snack

Two dried rosemary leaves per Giraffe Snack

Five toothpicks per Giraffe Snack

Directions:

1. Peel your carrot and slice it in two-inch segments

2. Press toothpicks into segment for legs

3. Gently press another toothpick into the top of the body and the bottom of the head

4. Press two rosemary leaves very carefully into the top of the head for horns

5. Play with your food!

All summer we’ve been sharing ideas for a Don’t Laugh at Giraffe-themed party. We’ve talked about games, kid-made loot bags, and the oh-so-popular Muddy Puddle Slushie drink. Today we have instructions for a great kid-friendly craft that will inspire hours of fun long after the party is over:

One white sock

One red felt tongue

Two tan felt horns

Two tan felt ears

Brown tempera paint

A paint brush

Tacky craft glue

A picture of a giraffe or an example for kids to follow

A black fabric marker

To make this more of an independent activity at the party (freeing you up to light candles, clean up messes, or deal with crises), cut out the tongue, ears, and horns ahead of time. You will need a long, snaking red tongue, two small tan rectangles for horns, and two small, tan leaf shapes for ears.

1. Using the black fabric marker, draw eyes and nostrils on the foot of the sock.

2. Using the brown tempera, paint large spots on the neck of the giraffe and small spots on its face.

3. Glue down 1.5 cm (0.5 in) of the tongue just below the seam at the toe of the sock.

4. With the sock flat on the table, glue one horn so that it sticks straight up from the crest of the heel. Flip the sock over and do the same on the other side.

5. Glue each ear right over the base of a horn. Make sure the tips of the ears point backward.

One 2″ Styrofoam ball

One paperclip, cut in half with wire cutters

Three feathers

A black permanent marker

Tempera paint

A paint brush

Tacky craft glue

An arm’s length of yarn

1. Poke the half paperclip halfway into the Styrofoam ball so that it makes two holes. Remove it, dip it in glue, and replace it in the same holes. This will form a loop from which your bird will hang.

2. Using the permanent marker, draw features on your bird.

3. Paint the ball all over. You can use your paperclip loop to keep your fingers out of the drying paint.

4. Poke a feather into each side of the bird for wings, and a third at the back for a tail. As with the paperclip, you can dip them in glue for added stability.

5. Tie one end of your yarn to the loop. Your bird is ready to fly!