Bedtime Stories: Giraffes Can't Dance By Giles Andreae

Time for bed little one, tonight's story is a no.1 international bestseller, Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae. A tale of not quite fitting in and finding out that it's ok to be your wonderful self.
Background music: Falling Snow by Aakash Gandhi

Transcript

Time for bed little one. My name is Katie and tonight's story is Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andre. So grab your teddy and let's go on an adventure. Gerald was a tall giraffe whose neck was long and slim but his knees were awful bandy and his legs were rather thin. He was very good at standing still and munching shoots off trees but when he tried to run around he buckled at the knees. Now every year in Africa they hold the jungle dance where every single animal turns up to skip and prance and this year when the day arrived poor Gerald felt so sad because when it came to dancing he was really very bad. The warthogs started waltzing and the rhinos rock and rolled. The lions danced a tango which was elegant and bold. The chimps all did a cha-cha with a very Latin feel and eight baboons then teamed up for a splendid Scottish reel. Gerald swallowed bravely as he walked towards the floor but the lions saw him coming and they soon began to roar. Hey look at clumsy Gerald. The animals all laughed. Giraffes can't dance you silly fool. Oh Gerald don't be daft. Gerald simply froze up. He was rooted to the spot. They're right he thought. I'm useless. Oh I feel like such a clot. So he crept off from the dance floor and he started walking home. He'd never felt so sad before. So sad and so alone. Then he found a little clearing and looked up at the sky. The moon can be so beautiful he whispered with a sigh. Excuse me coughed a cricket who'd seen Gerald earlier on. But sometimes when you're different you just need a different song. Listen to the swaying grass and listen to the trees. To me the sweetest music is those branches in the breeze. So imagine that the lovely moon is playing just for you. Everything makes music if you really wanted to. With that the cricket smiled and picked up his violin. Then Gerald felt his body do the most amazing thing. His hooves had started shuffling making circles on the ground. His neck was gently swaying and his tail was swishing round. He threw his arms out sideways and he swung them everywhere. Then he did a backward somersault and leapt up in the air. Gerald felt so wonderful his mouth would open wide. I am dancing yes I'm dancing I am dancing Gerald cried. Then one by one each animal who'd been there at the dance arrived while Gerald boogied on and watched him quite entranced. They shouted it's a miracle we must be in a dream. Gerald's the best dancer that we've ever ever seen. How is it you can dance like that? Please Gerald tell us how. But Gerald simply twizzled round and finished with a bow. And then he raised his head and looked up at the moon and stars above. We all can dance he said when we find the music that we love.

Reviews

Aw that is so beautiful, thank you for your lovely telling of that special story!

What is funny (i own the copy of the book)is that when I was younger I listened to.my mom read me this story every night and you reading this story gave me nostalgia and good memories 💖 💕 💓 💗

Beautiful storytelling voice, and a wonderful message in the story. Thank you. So lovely

I couldn’t dance long ago. But I wanted to. I took some classes and met the man who partners me in dance and in life.