South Africa, animals, plants, adventure, magic, healing, tribes
The White Giraffe
by Lauren St John
Key information
Author: Lauren St John
Illustrator: David Dean
Release Date: 1st Jan 2015
Book type: Chapter, 208 pages, paperback
Star rating: ★★★★
Reader level: Growing Reader/ Content (6+)
Series: 1 of 5
Age: Year 3+
Overview
Martine is just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. That is, until her parents perish in a house fire, leaving her no choice but to live with her extremely strict grandmother on her game reserve in South Africa.
Shortly after arriving in South Africa, Martine learns that she has a special gift: she can heal animals. However, not everyone understands this gift and she soon feels that she is not welcome in this part of the world. Despite her ongoing isolation, Martine discovers that the animals inside her grandmother's game reserve are in grave danger of being hunted and sold across the world. But, rumour has it that these criminals are after only one things: a "mythical" white giraffe.
Martine takes it upon herself to investigate the rumours and begins to explore the game reserve when her grandmother sleeps. But as her grandmother warned, the range is full of wild and dangerous animals and she soon finds herself seconds from death. As she prepares to die, Martine is rescued by the white giraffe, Jemmy, who delivers her to the safety of his den. Here, Martine discovers ancient cave drawings from past tribes that speak of a girl and a white giraffe who are destined to be together. When Martine realises that the cave drawings are about her, she seeks the truth about who she is and why she has been chosen to protect Sawubona.
Meanwhile, Martine becomes more isolated from her peers and things come to a head on a school trip to the local gardens when she heals an injured bird in front of her classmates. After this, strange things begin to happen and she finally lets slip about her special relationship with the white giraffe. That night, she finds that Jemmy is missing and she suspects she knows who is behind his disappearance.
Martine must come clean to her grandmother and race against time to save Jemmy from his fate before it's too late.
Key concepts/themes
- Poaching
- Endangered animals
- Grief
- Magic
- Healing
- Destiny
- South Africa
- Animals and plants
Considerations
- House fire
- Death of parents
- Moving country
- Harm to animals
- Poaching
Curriculum links
- Geography - Africa/South Africa
- Class Read Year 3+
Additional teaching opportunities
1. RSHE
- Poaching - right or wrong?
- Grief
2. Science
- Endangered species
- Plants and animals
3. Art
- Safari animals (sketching, printing, painting, watercolour, pastels)
- Plants (drawing, printing, painting)
- African landscapes
- Animals prints (printing)
4. Geography
- Compare UK to South Africa
5. Writing
- Newspaper article (poaching)
- Suspense writing (entering the game reserve)
- Character description (poacher suspect/Jemmy/Martine)
- Setting description (South Africa)
- Discussion text (Are game reserves better than the wild?)
Vocabulary
For a short chapter book, The White Giraffe is packed full of wonderful language that could be taught explicitly to a range of year groups.
| Tier 2 | Tier 3 |
|---|---|
| oblivious, draped, pandemonium, desperately, hastened, strewn, deserted, intricate, admire, glared | Game reserve, Kudu, sangoma, forefather, botanical, guinea fowl, fire heath, proteas, pincushion flower |
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