The Giraffe That Walked to Paris

Written by Nancy Milton and Illustrated by Roger Roth

Key Scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (NIV) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This delightful book, based upon events that really occurred, was an enjoyable journey into new culture as well as into history. We reviewed the location of Egypt (which we had talked about in our Jesse Tree study in December and our Exodus study in April) and talked about the Mediterranean Sea. We had a meal with Mediterranean flavor that included skewered chicken, taboule, hummus, & pita bread. We were introduced to Marseilles and learned why it is warmer there during the winter than it is in Paris (proximity to the equator). The children were thrilled with the opportunity to "return" to Paris and revisited Madeline as well as being introduced to the beautiful book & video of Linnea in Monet's Garden.

In our Bible and social studies lessons, we learned about what it means to be an ambassador and how reconciliation is one of the duties of an ambassador. We saw how the Bible tells us it is Jesus Who reconciles us to God, and that once we are His, He also gives us the ministry of reconciliation (introducing others to Him). We looked at the Bridge illustration and saw how only Christ can bridge the gap between God and man. As His ambassadors, we can introduce others to Christ, through our words and actions, but it is through that personal relationship with Jesus that we are reconciled to the Father.

In addition to learning the terms "ambassador" and "reconcile" we also talked about "procession," "deck," and "hold." The kids had a lot of fun creating their own procession. Also in the area of language arts we talked about various elements of a story and how the relate to the "wh" questions:
· Characters: WHO is in the story?
· Plot: WHAT happens in the story?
· Setting: WHEN & WHERE does the story take place?
· Theme: WHY was the story written? (What did the author want to say?)
· Style: HOW was the story told?

We learned various facts about giraffes throughout our time with this book. We learned that La Giraffe was a fairly small giraffe (approximately 11 feet tall) because she was still young, a full grown giraffe can reach a height of 18 feet. This is 4 feet taller than the peak of the cathedral ceiling in our living room! An adult giraffe's tongue can be as long as 18 inches (about the length of Justin's entire arm)! And a giraffe's heart can weigh almost 25 pounds (as much as Phillip)! These are VERY large animals. We enjoyed seeing the representation of a drawing made by the scientists who had never actually seen a giraffe and noting their errors. We had hoped to actually go to a zoo and see a live giraffe or two, but haven't quite managed that as yet.

In the areas of math and science we made good use of the opportunity to discuss various elements of the calendar (days, weeks, months and seasons) and their relationships with one another. Through plotting La Giraffe's travels on the calendar, we learned that it took 9 months (which spanned 2 full seasons and portions of the other 2 seasons) from her departure from Egypt until she was presented to the king in Paris. We related this to the 9 month wait that we have while anticipating the arrival of our new baby. We get reports and updates along the way, but the wait until we actually see the new little one can seem very long. Some of these time concepts are still rather difficult for the kids to grasp, but it was beautiful to see the tie-ins that happen with our own lives.

Click here to see Claire's journal entry and illustration for this book.