When Anne Innis saw her first giraffe in a zoo, she was entranced. So much so that a love for giraffes shaped her whole life. She decided at a young age that she would one day travel from her home in Canada to study giraffes in their natural environment in Africa.
After overcoming obstacles to doing so based on her gender, Anne succeeded in fulfilling her dream in 1956 and became the world's leading scientific expert on giraffes.
Gender discrimination then interfered with her ability to share her passionate interest and her knowledge with students. The disheartening injustice of it led her into work championing equal rights for women.
Anne eventually gained the recognition she deserved for her remarkable achievements in the field of animal behaviour. By then giraffe numbers in the wild were dwindling and she became devoted to helping save them.
In The Girl Who Loved Giraffes: And Became the World's First Giraffologist, Kathy Stinson and François Thisdale have created a gem of a book that captures the dramatic story of Anne's life, the majestic beauty of giraffes, and fascinating facts about this most intriguing and magnificent creature.
Anne Innis Dagg herself is thrilled that the book will cause young readers to fall in love with giraffes as she did, and bring their attention to the cause dearest to her heart, that of giraffe conservation. Readers are bound to fall in love with Anne, too.
Kathy Stinson
Kathy has loved reading all her life but was almost thirty before she discovered she loves writing too. She has become the author of over 30 books for young people including the classic Red Is Best and the award-winning The Man with the Violin based on the imagined experience of a child hearing Joshua Bell play in a Washington metro station.
Mother, stepmother, and grandmother, Kathy is still an avid reader. When not reading or writing, she enjoys photography, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, and walking her dog in the woods and fields near her home in Rockwood, Ontario.
François Thisdale
has been creating images for children's books for thirty years. His art consists of a unique blend of drawing, photography, and richly textured painting.
François' work has won, among others, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Notable Books for a Global Society Award (Missing Nimâmâ), and the IBBY Honor List (The Stamp Collector). That Squeak by Carolyn Beck was a finalist for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award, and was selected as an Honor Book for the Elizabeth-Mrazik Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award.
François lives near Montreal, Quebec.
"In their picture book biography of Anne Innis Dagg, The Girl Who Loved Giraffes: And Became the World's First Giraffologist, author/storyteller Kathy Stinson and artist/illustrator Francois Thisdale have created a beautiful story that captures the dramatic story of Anne's life, the majestic beauty of giraffes and fascinating facts about this most intriguing and magnificent creature. The Girl Who Loved Giraffes: And Became the World's First Giraffologist is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library picture book biography collections."
— The Midwest Book Review
"Thisdale's exquisite and detailed illustrations are so clear they almost seem like photographs. . . A reminder that many appreciate you even if those in charge do not."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Compelling. . .This inspiring biography of an eminent animal rights and equal rights defender showcases Dagg's passion, determination and courage. Fascinating facts about giraffes are also included on every page. François Thisdale's stunning illustrations capture the intrinsic beauty of these majestic animals."
— CCBC's Librarians' Picks
"Throughout the book, Anne's curiosity, determination, courage and sense of purpose will leave the reader with admiration and a conviction that anything is possible, with visionaries like Anne to thank for the advancement of both women's rights, and conservation.
"This timely biography is a good one to add to books that focus on the precarious state of some of the world's wildlife—giraffes being only one example—and habitats.
Highly Recommended"
— CM Magazine
Also available as an eBook in the following formats. Our web site is not set up to sell eBooks. Our eBooks are available at most major vendors:
Below is a video of the author Kathy Stinson talking about the book:
Below is a recording of the virtual book launch from June 2:
Updates Available: Updates Available: Update available for Picture Gallery Module