Wonderful to see the photos and learn the history! Thanks for the review, I'm definitly going to read it now! If you want to skip over it, just skip to the horizontal line break. The Great Depression lingers. West With Giraffes, while an historical novel, reads as a beautiful memoir of one brief and eventful journey. They were given names Lofty and Patches, the winning entries in a naming contest. Reflector Series 1997. Animal Quarantine Station in Athenia, New Jersey, for a federally mandated fifteen-day quarantine. float: right; 1940. Overview An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. .figcaption {font-size: 75%;} The novel is divided into 16 chapters named after the place where the chapters events transpire and are intermingled with newspaper clippings, telegrams and postcards. I headed to San Diego and their new zoo, where Id heard that the animals get treated better than the people. An actual photo of the truck that the giraffes were driven across the country on. Westward ho! "This is the kind of story that, when well-told, can change one's perspective on the world""Heartbreakingly beautiful""Simply magic""Lynda Rutledge has written a one in a million book""The depth of feeling that went into the writing of this wonderful book exudes from every page""This book is so good it gives me shivers""A modern masterpiece", -some of Lynda's favorite reader responses, An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. how many inches of rain did lincoln nebraska get; jojo script in japanese; 21 day weather forecast lanzarote puerto del carmen; There were many reasons giraffes were hard to come by for Americas first zoos. Guest Review by Julie Hilton. -moz-box-shadow: none; Imagine my surprise, then, when I read the very first sentence of the prologue and I was hooked immediately. A male giraffe's average size is 14-18 feet, but you'll find the female giraffes a bit shorter than them. The key characters in both of these novels are animals that find themselves in a world foreign to them. Giraffes grow about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in their first year of life. . and ocean . The Great Depression lingers. Initially they refused to leave their traveling carriers but were eventually lured out with onions. This was kind of tough for me, because the books I read typically don't have animals in them. margin: 0; THAT'S how good it is! Did you notice any other prevalent themes? Spies, Wars, Winners and Losers, It's All So Intriguing To Me! and won the hearts of Depression-era America. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern Californias first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Gawky Giraffes to Leave Athenia Today for Coast. Paterson (N.J.) News (October 10, 1938): 35. It is rare to pick up a book that is really DIFFERENT. They experience the kindness of strangers when a poor black man named Moses enlists his entire family to remove the truck from under the bridge. Lynda Rutledge's West With Giraffes is written in the first person point of view, and utilizes both past and present tenses. In addition to being a love story to giraffes, West with Giraffes is a story of life on the road, and in particular on the road in the United States in 1938. While hiding out at the barn in Athenia, Woody does his own acquainting with the giraffessneaking into the paddock to feed them apples and onions, and checking on the injured girl. The animals were loaded onto the S.S. Robin Goodfellow in Mombasa, British East Africa (present-day Kenya), for a 52-day, 3,200-mile journey to the coast of New York. font-weight: 600; "Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes". With the necessary funds, zoo director Belle Benchley, the first female zoo director in the world, paid for two young Ugandan giraffes and one rhinoceros to be shipped from Africa in 1938. Fantastic, and such a good read. West With Giraffes, while an historical novel, reads as a beautiful memoir of one brief and eventful journey. cursor: pointer; Besides the below book club questions, remember, the easiest way to be . There is no real bluffing and nothing underhanded between Charley Smith and me nor is there between any of us; we are all working for one end, here in the Zoo, though perhaps by different methods. Woodrow Wilson Nickel is a 17 year old orphan boy who is forced to leave his home after his familys tragic death during the Dust Bowl. Thank you for this! Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. I will draw a winner for the giveaway on March 19th at 9:00 AM ET and notify the winner by email. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. As a reader I felt as if I were sitting with Woody, the Old Man, Red, Wild Girl and Wild Boy as they traveled west, feeling the giraffes snuffling, hearing their thrumming, watching them reach out for an onion. .printfriendly { Two giraffes (later to be called Lofty and Patches) travelled to New York surviving . (Available in Hardback, Paperback, Audio, and Kindle E-Book) CLICK *HERE*to Sample or Buy on AMAZON THE Over a year, it turned into this calculated mess. .printfriendly.pf-alignleft { } Females grow up to 14 feet (4.3 m) tall and weigh up to 1,500 . There are plenty of opportunities to learn the skill of storytelling perhaps you can take a class at your local library or from a local storyteller. I see a message that, "This form can only be viewed by users in the owner's organization.". That is when he locks eyes with the giraffes (Boy and Girl). . Determined to meet his cousin at that Brooklyn dock, he arrived only to find that his cousin was killed on board the Goodfellow during the hurricane. This book is AMAZING and it's one of those books that you just can't forget. A couple of moments are flashbacks from Woody's childhood where his dad teaches him about animals and that they are "just animals" (basically worthless for anything that can't be beneficial to humans. box-shadow: none; How did it feel to create a new story? I read through the books for that month and just could't decide honestly, NONE of them looked good to me. After his death, Woodys last wish is fulfilled, and his manuscripts are delivered to Augie Ann. Pictures taken just after unloading from ship. In the year 2025, at age 105, Woodrow Wilson Nickel reads that giraffes are becoming extinct, and suddenly memories come rushing back. It reminded me of The Green Mile (movie) where Tom Hanks' character is ridiculously old and he tells the whole story of The Green Mile to a woman at the nursing home where he lives. That's up to you." Thank you for sharing it the magic of googling. He done a grand job and he knew it. A crane was used to lower the giraffe crates out of the truck and onto terra firma. Giraffes Proud Parents at the San Diego Zoo. Los Angeles Times (August 28, 1952): 15. What senses transport you to another time and place? Amazon First Reads is where you can choose from a short list once a month to get a book for free. What about animals pulls at your heart-strings? Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. San Diego Zoo Centennial Timeline: 1938. https://www.sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/timeline/1938/1938/ (accessed 2/9/2021). } Local Woman Names Newly Arrived Giraffes. Escondido (CA) Times-Advocate (October 28, 1938): 6. Woody learns that Red is pregnant, and that she lied about being a photographer for Life magazine. Giraffesan animal most Americans had never actually see for themselves with their own two eyes at the timehad actually somehow managed to survive a wild ride aboard the SS Robin Goodfellow when it headed straight into a typhoon off the coast of Haiti. After examination and treatment, Schroeder deemed the giraffe worth saving and cleared her to make the trip. I had read about the true story of the famous hurricane giraffes when I conducted research for my story on Belle Benchley, but I thank Lynda Rutledge for writing this work of fiction, which left me with the desire to learn more about them. With Woody behind the wheel, true to the actual events, the giraffe truck stopped regularly at auto camps under appropriate trees with the top of the crates open to let Boy and Girl reach up and browse. Wild Girl and Wild Boy are at the heart of this novel and throughout and directly in her Authors Note following the novel, the author shares her views of how we can be charmed and inspired by animals. "Woodrow Wilson Nickel died in the year 2025, on a usual day, in the unusual way, at the rather unusual age of 105. Rutledge didnt include photos of the actual trip with her novel, perhaps due to the expense of copyrights, perhaps because she wanted to keep it as Woodys story. After loading the giraffes onto the truck, they headed to the U.S. Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals; males (bulls) may exceed 5.5 metres (18 feet) in height, and the tallest females (cows) are about 4.5 metres. Thank you so much for the feedback! Amazingly, one of the crew saw the female giraffe move, so they covered and protected her as the storm raged on. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. The story isnt even about that boat ride. Two African giraffes, who barely survive the 1938 Hurricanewhile crossing the Atlantic, make it to New York City. Read the Study Guide for West With Giraffes. Sold! Yeah, crazy, right? There are many photos online of this time in history, below are just a few. On the other side of the pond, Hitler was invading Eastern Europe, so the combined stress of world events and personal troubles were briefly assuaged by the sight of the traveling giraffes. Lets face it, the backstory leading to that appointment with Mother Nature at her most furious would almost certainlybeyond any doubthave to be a pretty great tale to tell. a woman on the running board of the truck feeding a giraffe in the crate, the crates being loaded with a giraffe leaning out the window of one crate, listen to giraffes humming in this YouTube video, 2-minute video of murmuration of starlings in the Netherlands, How to Tell Better Stories: 4 Simple Tips for Introverts from Introverts, Dear, cience of People shares tips from the science side. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. When have you felt joy with an animal whether domesticated or in the wild? Have you shared it? The Book Report Network 16 Mount Bethel Rd, Suite 365, Warren, NJ 07059 212-246-3100 The tone is so well-crafted, the dialog so realistic. An editor In 1938, the Great Depression is not yet a memory in the United States, and Hitler is becoming a major threat in Europe. (If you're not into that, don't worry--it's really only in the prologue.). 2021. Memories stick to things. When the storm finally abated they tried to get her out of what was left of her crate, but they were not successful. But he doesn't give up. I finished the book last night and now after reading the background and seeing the pictures of the truck and the Woodrow Wilson Nickel, aka Woody Nickel, almost 18, happens to be on a New York dock in 1938 when the hurricane-battered SS Robin Goodfellow limps into the harbor. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. Croke, Vicki. Just keep scrolling. (272 kilograms). by . I want to confirm my idea that Woody was the father of little Augie, who was the one who received his foot locker after his death with the porcelain gifaffe. A newborn giraffe is about 6 feet (1.9 meters) tall at birth and weighs about 150 pounds (68 kilograms). She indeed fills our imagination with a journey full of colorful characters, tall tales, and deep secrets. His parents and baby sister died in the Dust Bowl and Woody makes his way to New York City to find his only known/living relative, Cuz. Unbeknownst to him, she is a married woman and is being pursued by the police for stealing her husbands car and crossing state lines without a male chauffeur. 'jetpack-lazy-images-js-enabled' . The events of the twelve-day cross-country drive are difficult to decipher outside of what Smith revealed to journalists and The Boss Lady. He did not keep a journal, so Lynda Rutledge takes creative license to fill in the blanks for us. It is one of my favorite books I have read in my 84 1/2 yrs. An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. Values for the northern giraffe grouping were intermediate, with West African and Rothschild's giraffes diverging about Red was an aspiring photojournalist trying to sell her giraffe story to Life magazine. Other than the female hurting her leg in the hurricane, they are uninjured. He grabs a rabbit and drops it onto the cage of the tiger, who eats it right away. best used midsize suv under $20 000; lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California's first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. I eventually just chose the one called 'West With Giraffes', by Lynda Rutledge. Jackson aka Big Papa: father of clan that owns Cottages for ColoredsMoses: eldest son of Big Papa, first to spot giraffes when they get stuck under overpass on detourPercival T Bowles: Circus ringmasterCooter: animal abuser who owns a run-down road side desert animal attraction. It was fascinating to see my route through the eyes of someone traveling there nearly 100 years prior. outline:none; By this time, the hurricane giraffes had made national headlines. ", "A journey through a world both intimately familiar and lost in the dust of the past. ", "Rutledge brought to life a remarkable story that few know about, and tells it so beautifully as a plea for the preservation of the Earth's most exotic creatures", "Ms. Rutledge has spun a masterpiece. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. He is full of talk and wit and fun when he is around, but when away he makes me wait for news day after day until I am nearly mad from worrying. The Great Depression lingers. -moz-box-shadow: none; They are all saved when Red wedges her car against the truck and prevents it from overturning. A treasure for sure. In the novel West with Giraffes, Woody Nickel, is a seventeen-year-old dirt-farm rowdy, pure as a cow pie, cunning as a wild hog bound to escape the Texas Panhandle (and any law enforcement that might be looking for him). But this book is VERY adventurous and kept me on my toes the entire time. 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