The Inspiration for TEACH YOUR GIRAFFE TO SKI by Viviane Elbee

My debut book is titled TEACH YOUR GIRAFFE TO SKI. A cautious little boy and a thrill-seeking giraffe hit the ski slopes. Whoa - better TEACH YOUR GIRAFFE TO SKI! A little boy attempts to distract his giraffe from the big scary slope by teaching her ski basics on the safe bunny hill.

I got the idea for a ski story during my family’s very first ski trip, which coincided with the 2014 Winter Olympics. My kindergartner and preschooler helped pack, so a menagerie of stuffed animals joined us on the trip.

During the day, the kids were learning to ski, and in the evening, we would watch the Olympics. The kids thought it would be awesome to join the Olympics. The stuffed animals were also highly interested in winter sports - they wanted to be “jumping ski champions” and were sliding down pillows and leaping through the air. My husband and I started making lot of jokes about the skiing giraffe, which made our kids laugh.

After we came home from that trip, I wrote (and revised) several different stories featuring a skiing giraffe. I took the story I liked best to an SCBWI conference critique session and shared it with a fabulous editor, Annie Nybo. She encouraged me to submit the story to her.
 
I hope you will enjoy this tale about a little boy and his giraffe’s first adventure together on the ski slopes. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to try a new adventure of your own.

​Thank you for reading this post!
 
Viviane Elbee
TEACH YOUR GIRAFFE TO SKI by Viviane Elbee
Albert Whitman & Company, Fall 2018
www.VivianeElbee.com