Book
I am not a chair / Ross Burach.
Summary:
Is there anything worse than being mistaken for a chair? May being say on by a stinky skunk? Or smooshed by two hapless hippos? Or - worst of all - cornered by a hungry lion? What's a poor giraffe to do when no one seems to notice that he is not standing there just to be say upon? It's a curious tale about finding your courage.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062360168 (hardcover) :
- ISBN: 9781338285840 (soft cover)
- Physical Description: 1 volume (unpaged) : colour illustrations ; 27 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : HarperCollins, 2017.
- Copyright: ©2017.
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Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Headingley Municipal Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headingley Municipal Library | C BUR (Text) | 36440000271167 | Children's Books on CD | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2016 November #2
Giraffe's "first day in the jungle" (catch that metaphor!) takes an uncomfortable turn when a rhino with a book plops down on his back. Soon a monkey, a snake, and, ugh, a skunk all follow suit. To be fair, Giraffe, as Burach portrays him in the loosely drawn cartoons, does have a chairlike flat back and a vertical neck, so the mistake is understandable. "Can't they see?" Giraffe grumbles. "I have SPOTS and EARS and EYES and" pointing to his ossicones "whatever THESE things are." His determination to assert his identity hits a snag when a hungry lion takes a seat, but at last his need to pee forces a comment, and the lion flees in terror: "AHHHHH! Run for your lives!!! A talking chair!!!" That does break the ice with his jungle mates though. "Me! A chair. Can you believe it?" laughs Giraffe at the end, as he perches comfortably atop an annoyed tortoise. The rather oblique lesson may need some explication, but even very young children will chortle at the comical pictures and story line. Copyright 2016 Booklist Reviews. - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2017 Fall
When Giraffe moves to the jungle, the other animals, and even a human ("Smartest species? Yeah, right"), keep mistaking him for a chair and sitting on him. Giraffe is too afraid to speak up...until nature's call ("I've got to pee!") forces him to take a stand. This well-spun tale's slapstick is all the funnier for the cast's dopey facial expressions. Copyright 2017 Horn Book Guide Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2016 December #1
A beleaguered giraffe tries to communicate that he isn't a chair.Poor Giraffe: on his first day in the jungle he's seen as a chair by the other animals. Of course, giraffes aren't actually found in jungles, and there's little evidence of a jungle in the illustrations. While Giraffe does look a little like a chair, the fact that he has eyes and a mouth and nose and other features that distinguish the other animals from their seats makes it hard to understand why he is mistaken for a chair. But it's all about the gag. Burach uses action-filled spreads to indicate a series of incidents that literally impede Giraffe's speech, but when he is finally able to speak up for himself, he chooses instead to make a fake chair that looks like him. When that doesn't work, he's taken home by a dull-witted human who also uses him for a chair. Upon escaping, he is used as a chair by a lion waiting for dinner. When Giraffe finally decides to speak up and clear up the misunderstanding, he saves his own skin by scaring the lion, who thinks he's a talking chair. The childlike drawings emphasize googly eyes, silly grins, a multitude of sound effects in emphatic display type, and lots of physical humor. While the slapstick may appeal to readers, sadly, this book is so confused and arbitrary, most of the humor falls flat. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus 2016 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2016 December #1
A giraffe, new to the jungle, can't seem to persuade his fellow animals that he isn't a piece of furniture. To them, he's a chair, and chairs are for derrieres. "I'm a giraffe," the giraffe complains to no one in particular (which is part of the problem) after being sat upon once again. "Can't they see? I have spots and ears and eyes"âhe points to his ossiconesâ"and whatever these things are." Burach (There's a Giraffe in My Soup) pursues the chain of consequences triggered by his wonderfully ridiculous premise with gleeful doggedness. The result is a steady stream of silliness that leads to a classic punch line, in which the core misunderstanding saves the put-upon protagonist from being eaten by a lion; a bonus final joke turns the tables yet again. Rat-a-tat dialogue and freewheeling cartooning, featuring a bounty of googly eyes and goofy expressions, make this a great readaloud for anyone who's ever felt objectified or misunderstoodâa wide audience if ever there was one. Ages 4â8. Agent: Lara Perkins, Andrea Brown Literary. (Feb.) Copyright 2016 Publisher Weekly. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2017 February
PreS-Gr 1âGiraffe has a problem. It's his first day in the jungle, and everyone thinks he's a chair! All the animals take turns sitting on himâa monkey, a hippopotamus, and even a human mistake the herbivore for a comfy chair! Giraffe has no luck vocalizing his concern. However, when a lion decides to take a seat, Giraffe musters the courage to say, "I am not a chair!" Readers can engage with this goofy tale while also picking up the message of learning to speak up for themselves. The stylized cartoons are done in pencil and acrylic paint. Burach uses warm colors to depict a populated jungle that welcomes readers and the main character to a new environment.
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal.