Tall Blondes: A Book about Giraffes

Hundreds of books have been written about dogs and cats. Dozens about lions and tigers and bears. But how many non-scholarly books have been written about giraffes-one of nature’s most intriguing and unique animals? None. Until now.

You know Lynn Sherr as a veteran journalist and as a leading correspondent for the ABC news magazine 20/20 , but you probably didn’t know that she has been an avid giraffophile since a visit to the African wilderness nearly twenty-five years ago.

The days of the giraffe being overlooked and under-appreciated are over with the publishing of Tall Blondes,a one-of-a-kind book about a one-of-a-kind animal. The giraffe’s unusually long neck and legs make it one of the most recognizable creatures on our planet. But it also possesses a wide range of other fascinating and endearing traits and features. And while most giraffes are blondes , they come in beautiful arrays of red, brown, and even white.

Sherr traces the cultural history of the giraffe, from it’s first appearance in Europe in 46 B.C. (thanks to Julius Caesar) through medieval bestiaries and up to the modern giraffe star of a TV movie. The book is not just about giraffes in the it’s about how they have impacted on humans (and visa versa), stirring the imaginations of artists, writers and thinkers. Taking a whimsical approach to her very serious subject, Sherr has filled it with little-known tidbits, awe-inspiring photographs and drawings, and intriguing tales about the world’s tallest land animal.

Read it, and you’ll not only learn about why Sherr (a tall blond herself) has fallen head over heals for this gawky but graceful animal-you’ll fall in love too.