Stay Close to Mama by Toni Buzzeo - OPTIONAL

Buzzeo, Toni  Stay Close to Mama  Illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka  Disney Hyperion Books, 2012.  PICTURE BOOK  Content: G.   

Twiga is a baby giraffe who is very curious about the world around him.  Twiga swells something sweet in the air and wants to go investigate.  His mother warns him to stay close to her, but he is too curious and runs across the field to follow the smell.  As he crosses the grass, he passes a hyena who is watching Twiga, but Twiga’s mother is close behind so the hyena doesn’t attack.  Then Twiga puts his face into a tree that has thorns and stinging ants, but that doesn’t stop him from being curious, and he runs to the river’s edge where there is a crocodile waiting.  However, Twiga is distracted before the crocodile can get too near and he runs to a sausage tree to get a treat.  There’s a cheetah hiding in the tree, but Twiga gets his sweet fruit and runs to his mom before the cheetah can get him.  In the end Twiga is safe with his mom eating his fruit.  

The illustrations are cute and the story is fun, but I guess I worry that Twiga didn’t learn anything about the dangers of running away from his mom or from not listening to her warnings.  I felt like the message of the book made it okay to disobey.  

EL (K-3)-OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.