The White Giraffe
Encyclopedia
The White Giraffe is a children's novel by Lauren St. John first published in 2006. It is the first in the African Adventures series.
This book was voted the winner of the 2008 East Sussex Children’s Book Award.
Lauren St. John picked out a giraffe
for the story because she always wanted to ride one. When St. John was a child living in Zimbabwe
, Africa, she owned several wild animals including a giraffe.
The book was nominated for the 2010 Rebecca Caudill Award
. It also was included in the 2009 2010 District 65 Battle Of The Books , an intermediate book award for children in Illinois
.
When Martine has started to get used to her new home, she hears a local legend about a mythical white giraffe. Although no one sees it, the giraffe is rumored to leave footprints where it visits at night. Gwyn Thomas insists that the white giraffe is nothing more than a creature of legend, even though everyone else believes in it. Martine is startled, one stormy night, to see the white giraffe outside Gwyn's home. After some time, Martine feels courageous enough to start looking for the white giraffe at midnight. When Martine is almost bitten by a deadly cape cobra in her search, the white giraffe, who she calls Jemmy, saves her. A few nights later Martine is with Jemmy in the wildlife reserve and hears two poachers discussing the giraffe. One of them spots her, and Martine, for the first time, rides on Jemmy to get away.
Martine and Jemmy escape to a secret valley, where Jemmy lives during the day, and Martine enters a cave inside. Paintings of ancient tribesmen on the wall depict a girl riding on a white giraffe, which fascinates Martine. Over the course of the next few weeks Martine learns how to ride Jemmy, Then, one night, she decided to go back to Jemmy’s secret valley to look, once again, at the painting. Inside, she meets Grace. Grace is a sangoma, a woman skilled at healing, and she tells Martine the full story about the ancient cave. Grace also gives Martine a bag of vials, which are used for healing. The next morning, Gwyn Thomas tells Martine that the white giraffe has been stolen by poachers. They suspect that Jemmy is on a ship, and race to the docks to try and find him. While searching for Jemmy, Martine meets Ben, a (mostly) silent boy from her class. Over the course of the book Martine has become good friends with Ben after they save each other from their class mates on multiple occasions. She quickly explains to him what happened, and he agrees to help. Ben thinks that Jemmy is held captive in the cargo hold of the ship his father is captain of. They find Jemmy wounded in the cargo hold, and Martine heals him with Grace's medicines. Then they ride off back to the game reserve, where the police capture the poachers.
and a happy ending happens
This book was voted the winner of the 2008 East Sussex Children’s Book Award.
Lauren St. John picked out a giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
for the story because she always wanted to ride one. When St. John was a child living in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, Africa, she owned several wild animals including a giraffe.
The book was nominated for the 2010 Rebecca Caudill Award
Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award is a program sponsored by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English, the Illinois Reading Council, and the Illinois School Library Media Association. The award has been granted annually since 1988...
. It also was included in the 2009 2010 District 65 Battle Of The Books , an intermediate book award for children in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Summary
Martine is left an orphan after her parents die in a terrible fire; she is shipped off from England to live at an animal reserve in South Africa with her grandmother Gwyn Thomas, whom she has never met before. There she meets Tendai, a local worker on the game reserve with Martine's grandmother. Tendai takes Martine to his aunt named Grace, and she tells Martine that she has "the gift."When Martine has started to get used to her new home, she hears a local legend about a mythical white giraffe. Although no one sees it, the giraffe is rumored to leave footprints where it visits at night. Gwyn Thomas insists that the white giraffe is nothing more than a creature of legend, even though everyone else believes in it. Martine is startled, one stormy night, to see the white giraffe outside Gwyn's home. After some time, Martine feels courageous enough to start looking for the white giraffe at midnight. When Martine is almost bitten by a deadly cape cobra in her search, the white giraffe, who she calls Jemmy, saves her. A few nights later Martine is with Jemmy in the wildlife reserve and hears two poachers discussing the giraffe. One of them spots her, and Martine, for the first time, rides on Jemmy to get away.
Martine and Jemmy escape to a secret valley, where Jemmy lives during the day, and Martine enters a cave inside. Paintings of ancient tribesmen on the wall depict a girl riding on a white giraffe, which fascinates Martine. Over the course of the next few weeks Martine learns how to ride Jemmy, Then, one night, she decided to go back to Jemmy’s secret valley to look, once again, at the painting. Inside, she meets Grace. Grace is a sangoma, a woman skilled at healing, and she tells Martine the full story about the ancient cave. Grace also gives Martine a bag of vials, which are used for healing. The next morning, Gwyn Thomas tells Martine that the white giraffe has been stolen by poachers. They suspect that Jemmy is on a ship, and race to the docks to try and find him. While searching for Jemmy, Martine meets Ben, a (mostly) silent boy from her class. Over the course of the book Martine has become good friends with Ben after they save each other from their class mates on multiple occasions. She quickly explains to him what happened, and he agrees to help. Ben thinks that Jemmy is held captive in the cargo hold of the ship his father is captain of. They find Jemmy wounded in the cargo hold, and Martine heals him with Grace's medicines. Then they ride off back to the game reserve, where the police capture the poachers.
and a happy ending happens