Review - A Kiss for Giraffe

A Kiss for Giraffe
by Judith Koppens
illustrated by Suzanne Diederen
Date: 2017
Publisher: Clavis
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Written by Judith Koppens and illustrated by Suzanne Diederen!

Giraffe and Piggy are best friends. Piggy wants to give Giraffe a kiss, but Giraffe is too tall. What will Piggy do?

An endearing and simple story about friendship. For toddlers ages 30 months and up, with a focus on the child’s emotions.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This could've been a good story about consent... had it gone far enough.

Piggy wants to give Giraffe a kiss. We don't know how Giraffe feels about this, so it's kind of unsettling to watch Piggy try various methods to level their heights so that he can lay a smooch on his friend (the first thing he tried was eerily reminiscent of the way stonings are carried out; he dug a hole and got Giraffe to stand in it so he could reach). Eventually, his attempt at using a ladder fails, and he falls. Giraffe then bends down and gives Piggy a kiss and Piggy says, "Now why didn't I think of that?" Maybe because he was so busy trying to kiss his friend without permission that he didn't think to ask!

This was a missed opportunity. At no point did Piggy say to Giraffe, "May I kiss you?" or "Would you like a kiss?" (If he had, the book would've been very short.) It was uncomfortable to watch this pig running around thinking of ways to kiss his tall friend; it had me thinking that maybe Giraffe just didn't want to be kissed at that moment, since he/she was staying well out of kissing range!

The pictures aren't that memorable (except for the creepy one of the giraffe in the hole) and I wasn't impressed with the story. I'd recommend giving this one a pass. Just because kids feel like kissing someone doesn't mean they should act on it... especially without permission.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.17 out of 5