GIRAFFE CAN'T DANCE?

Pictures book are quite entertaining to read for children while messages are hidden within the lines. I've read "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae. There were many messages while one stood out: Don't doubt yourself because others belittle you. Trust yourself.  I got this from when Gerald started to dance. He let himself believe that he was a bad dancer because of what others told him. He didn't realize that he didn't have be what everybody expected him to be. He was own person, meaning that he had his own dancing. 

"Sometimes when you're different you just need a different song." This line comes up in the book when a friend offers Gerald(the giraffe) some advice. I feel like this is very true because everybody is different. Nobody is the same. Everybody has their own sparks in life; they are good at what they are best. Gerald was not good at dancing like his friends. He couldn't dance like the lions, the rhinos, or the monkeys. He felt like he had to dance like his friends, not thinking about how he could dance. When the cricket told him "Sometimes when you're different you just need a different song," Gerald loosened up. He started to dance like he had never before. This shows that Gerald realized his true self.

I also noticed the color of the pictures changed throughout the story. The bright colors I noted was when Gerald was in the middle of the jungle dance floor. The color made me think of how the spotlight was put on him and he felt so embarrassed. All the pressure was on him and there was no one else to comfort him. The dark colors where he was alone in the jungle made me think of calmness. Calmness meaning there was no teasing, bullying, or anything taunting him. He was alone and he could think. The dark color reminded me that sometimes thinking of your problems by yourself helps a lot than having everybody telling you to not do it because you're no good at it. 

Concluding my thoughts, I felt like reading a picture book like an eighth grader was more "meaning" than just reading a regular chapter book. I feel like sometimes the biggest messages can be expressed through simple words and illustrations.