A Giraffe and a Half

A Giraffe and A Half is a rhyming picture book filled with humor and creative language. This story will engage readers with iconic pictures and a rhythmic style always guessing what will come next. This story would be a great read aloud when introducing rhyming and/or poetry to young readers.

This book of poetry was a great read. I appreciated the flow of the words and as well as the humor. I also really liked how the rhymes slowly escalated, adding a new rhyme to the current paragraph, until the plot reverses and returns back to a single giraffe. The book starts out with a giraffe who continually has things added to him. In the middle of the story, where the plot reverses, it says, “But…if you brought him a pole to climb out of the hole and the whale left his tail and went off for the mail…” It finally ends with “You would have a giraffe.” The full circle keeps the children focused and engaged.

Silverstein uses silly language to help developing students get a grasp on rhyming. He uses everyday words that you show more wouldn’t imagine being connected. For example, he says, “If you glued a rose to the tip of his nose…you would have a giraffe and a half with a rat in his hat looking cute in a suit with a rose on his nose.” The humor incorporated throughout the book keeps children entertained and wanting to read more.

The main idea of this piece of writing is to develop students’ phonological awareness. Rhyming allows students to hear and manipulate words in order to understand sounds. Silverstein is able to accomplish this by making his rhymes fun and engaging. show less

If you had a giraffe and he stretched another half . . . you would have a giraffe and a half.

And if you glued a rose to the tip of his nose . . .

And . . . if he put on a shoe and then stepped in some glue . .

And if he used a chair to comb his hair . . .

And so it goes until . . . .

A rhyming, silly book that is fifty years old this year, first published in 1964. It is still a favorite and a great read-aloud. It is filled with funny situations, mostly ones that probably never could happen except in one’s imagination (and seen in a book), but they are so fun and so laughable.

Shel Silverstein’s is the artist as well and has drawn wonderful black line drawings on white paper that dance with the rhyming words on every page. This fiftieth show more anniversary edition has the original cover art from 1964.

Zany. Goofy. Fun! You can’t help but love this silly book and the giraffe which gets into all kinds of crazy situations.

Reading Level: 4 – 8 Years

Author/Illustrator:
Shel Silverstein is the author-artist of many beloved books of prose and poetry. He was a cartoonist, playwright, poet, performer, recording artist, and Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated songwriter.
He served in the U.S. Army in Japan and Korea in the ’50s and drew cartoons for Stars and Stripes, the American military publication. He also wrote several songs. His country-western song “A Boy Named Sue” was a hit for Johnny Cash in 1969. His song for Postcards From the Edge, “I’m Checkin’ Out,” was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Shel Silverstein was born September 25, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, and died on May 10, 1999. He is remembered in all the smiles he put on our faces as we read his many books which include Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, and Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. His more serious but wonderful book is The Giving Tree. show less

I just recently read Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? So I thought that A Giraffe and a Half might be structured in a similar way, but my hypothesis was wrong. I really enjoyed this book, but the whole time I was reading I thought I was reading some alternate version of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr.Seuss. Now I even went to look up the publication dates on both books just to see which one came out first and Green Eggs and Ham was published August 12,1960. A Giraffe and a Half was published about four years later on January 1,1964. The way that A Giraffe and a Half is structured the same way Green Eggs and Ham is. We start Silverstein's book with a Giraffe and each page something else happens and the previous things that happened to him are show more repeated. Then, when you think nothing else can happen to this giraffe it goes backwards and the poems become shorter. I don't know if Silverstein was inspired by Seuss or if it was just a coincidence. show less

This is a favorite in our family! Written in an almost musical cadence, this book is so fun to read! My children absolutely adore it!

A Giraffe and a Half is book written using rhyme and repetition to tell the account of what one would do if they “had a giraffe and he stretched another half.” The comedic poem uses alliteration and imagery to engage readers both, young and old. However, I found that even more exciting were Silverstein’s illustrations accompanying the poem. Although they are black and white, the illustrations are intricate and imaginative.

This book is just as silly and engaging as it is educational! The amazing use of rhyme throughout the story showcases all different letter and sound patterns that students will be learning about. I love that there is a rhythm to the story, and enough repetition for students to join in if they would like. I would definitely use this a tool to exemplify that all rhyming words aren't spelled the same.