21st June World Giraffe Day

World Giraffe Day is an annual event initiated by the Giraffe Conservation Federation to celebrate the longest-necked animal on the longest day of the year. I have blogged about it before but this time I want to highlight two biographies about Anne Innis Dagg, the first giraffologist and the new book by Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton, The Season of Giraffes.

When Anne Innis Dagg saw her first giraffe in a zoo she was entranced. So much so that a love for giraffes shaped her whole life. She decided at a young age that she would one day travel from her home in Canada to study giraffes in their natural environment in Africa. 

After overcoming obstacles based on her gender, Anne succeeded in fulfilling her dream in 1956 and became the world's leading scientific expert on giraffes and continues to be an advocate for giraffes in their natural environment through her foundation.

Her work is now accessible to child readers through these two books.

• Anne and her Tower of Giraffes (2022) by Karlin Gray and Apart Varma 

Read a review 

•The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and Became the World's First Giraffologist (2021)by Kathy Stinson and Francois Thisdale. See review here.

The Seasons of the Giraffes is an inspiring story of how giraffes have dealt with modern climate change. Here's the blurb:

In this powerful picture-book, bestselling children's author Nicola Davies writes in collaboration with conservationist Kisilu Musya to explain how one of the world's best-loved animals has dealt with the challenges of climate change. Giraffes were once a part of daily life in Niger – but after severe droughts one year, when the rains eventually return, the giraffes are nowhere to be seen. However, as award-winning artist Emily Sutton's magnificent illustrations capture, The Season of Giraffes ultimately has a hopeful, celebratory story to share ... and an important point to make about how human beings can change for the better.

Here's Nicola Davies blogging about this book.