Neck & Neck

April 1, 2018
A giraffe who fancies himself king of the zoo fights an uphill battle to maintain his sovereignty and his supply of treats.Leopold is adored by the zoo-going children and relishes his high position--until one brown-faced child appears with competition in the form of a high-flying giraffe balloon. Giraffe and balloon play a game of one-upmanship until the giraffe appears to be the loser. The balloon does not require a steady supply of snacks, which leads to Leopold sulking with his head in an acacia tree and then exacting explosive revenge against the upstart balloon. The scheme backfires as the kid shows up with a bigger and better version of the balloon in the form of a whole bunch of them. Alas, the kid trips, the kid loses the balloons, and the giraffe faces a moral dilemma. All ends well for the giraffe and his snacks and the boy and his balloons. Parsley's little tale deals with some serious issues that are treated comically. Her digital artwork emphasizes the heights of the high-necked and high-strung combatants, as does the tall format of the book. Facial features are exaggerated while type resembling hand-drawn lettering advances the drama, occasionally filling a double-spread with explosive action.While not a first-choice title to deal with jealousy and decision-making, this is a lighthearted foray into the difficulties of zoo life and--more to the point--peer behavior. (Picture book. 3-6)

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April 16, 2018
A giraffe with sky-high attitude, wildly fluctuating facial expressions, and a knack for spot-on zingers lifts this latest outing from Parsley (If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t!) to hilarious heights. The only giraffe at the zoo, lofty Leopold relishes the undivided attention and the ample snacks that young visitors shower upon him—until he comes snout-to-snout with an imposter: a balloon shaped like a giraffe featuring an impossibly wide, toothy grin. When the kid holding the balloon boasts about his giraffe’s assets, Leopold takes his bruised ego to his favorite tree, where he chomps off a branch and punctures the “grinning goofus.” His triumph is short-lived, since the kid reappears holding multiple identical balloons—not quite tightly enough, as it turns out—catapulting Leopold into a moral dilemma (“To save. Or not to save?”). Revealing the spindly hero in an array of silly poses and overblown moods, Parsley’s digital illustrations deliver a laugh on each spread. And readers will cheer on Leopold as he opts to take the high road—and ends up on top. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

June 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 2-Leopold the giraffe greatly enjoys being the center of attention at the zoo. So, when he spies competition in the form of a giraffe-head balloon being held by a small boy, Leopold does everything he can to capture the child's attention, including getting rid of the balloon. After much consideration and soul searching, Leopold assists the boy in acquiring a replacement balloon and earns the child's adoration. The story unfolds at a decent pace, maintaining slight suspense over what the characters will do next. The vocabulary used is simple and expressive, and even changes font for dramatic emphasis. This device is extremely effective for read-alouds as the text acts like performance cues. Early readers should still be able to understand the story through Parsley's dynamic expressions for each character, especially Leopold. Through a combination of Adobe and Corel, Parsley has created a series of distinguished illustrations that tell a story all on their own. In fact, there are certain turning points that are expressed solely through facial expression with no textual assistance. While both text and illustration could tell the story separately, together they create an energetic, relatable tale with multiple surprises that force readers to think about how they handle competition. VERDICT An excellent story to teach toddlers how to do the right thing, even when they don't want to.-Margaret Kennelly, iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2018
Preschool-G Leopold, a much-admired zoo giraffe, has a glorious life filled with plenty of delicious snacks?until a boy appears with a helium balloon shaped like a giraffe's head, claiming that it is superior to Leopold ( It's just like the real thing, only better ). Leopold tries and fails to compete with the balloon, so he pops it, whereupon the boy returns with a whole cluster of them. When those are accidentally sent adrift, Leopold at first refuses to rescue them, but he eventually relents, returning them to the tearful boy and becoming, once more, the recipient of adoration and snacks. Although Leopold temporarily loses his star power at the zoo, he is definitely the star of this book, experiencing a wide range of emotions and behaviors?happy, beguiling, confounded, sulky, vengeful, conflicted, remorseful?and he's given just the right facial expressions and body language to carry them off. With plenty of action offset against a white background, this is a crowd-pleaser. Leopold demonstrates that is it possible to be both empathetic and a star.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)