Jenny Giraffe Discovers the French Quart

By Cecilia Casrill Dartez

Book Overview

A young giraffe seeks a new life in New Orleans in author Cecilia Dartez and artist Shelby Wilson's picture book Jenny Giraffe Discovers the French Quarter.

"Run, Jenny, quickly Don't let them take you to the zoo Find a new home, my dear " urged Jenny Giraffe's mother after the door to their truck popped open during a minor accident on the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Afraid of life in the zoo, the little giraffe did as her mother said, running down the narrow streets and slipping through an open gate into a beautiful courtyard.

Lonely and scared, Jenny is befriended by Claude and Angelle, a couple of French heritage who agree to help Jenny keep from being discovered and returned to the zoo. They tell Jenny that by mixing in with the unusual street performers and costumed entertainers, Jenny can wander through the busy streets unnoticed, and follow her true calling--painting

" Cecilia Dartez] seeks to inspire children not only to read, but also to discover the city where they live." --New Orleans Times-Picayune

Jenny Giraffe
Jenny Giraffe's Mardi Gras Ride
Jenny Giraffe Discovers Papa No l
Jenny Giraffe Discovers the French Quarter
Jenny Giraffe and the Streetcar Party

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0882898191
• ISBN13: 9780882898193
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.5" x 11.6"
• Age Range: 5 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 7

Customer Reviews

Innocent giraffe navigates gritty urban underworld

New Orleans - it's a beautiful town of old-world architecture and elegance, but it has its dark side - runaway crime, gory black magic, and a red light district the size of Nebraska. Jenny is a willful girl from a sheltered background out on her own for the first time. Shortly after coming to town she falls in with feckless group of hyenas, and is soon taking a wild tour of the Big Easy's seamy side. A noisy altercation after a late night on the town lands her on the bad side of a thuggish hippopotamus named Puffin, whose ruthless gang of wolverines dominates every contraband market in the Quarter. Meanwhile a cabal of voodoo priests is out for Jenny's neck - literally - as they need her larynx (as well as an otter's tonsil) for a purification ceremony that a rich client has ordered. Jenny pulls through with her wits and her dignity more or less intact, although she does debase herself rather horribly to get her share of beads during Mardi Gras (something that we can both forgive and understand in light of her neck length). All told a gripping story that can serve as a cautionary tale for any young creature leaving the game reserve for the bright lights of sin city.