This book was created and published on StoryJumper™

©2010 StoryJumper, Inc.   All rights reserved.

Publish your own children's book: 

www.storyjumper.com

Michelle                    Sam                     Elie

Authors and Illustrators

About the Authors and Illustrators:

Michelle Kokes, Sam Roggekamp, and Ellie Fogel 

are all 14-year-old girls that attend Wilmette 

Junior High School. Ellie likes cheerleading, 

dancing, and hanging out with friends. She loves 

to spend her free time obsessing over Justin 

Bieber. Sam loves playing field hockey, dancing, 

and going to the mall. Her favorite color is pink 

and she loves pizza. Michelle loves to hangout 

with friends and sailing. Her favorite color is also 

pink and her favorite food is lasagna. These 

three girls are all looking forward to a great 

summer and starting high school in a year.

Once upon a time, there was a 

giraffe named Willy who moved 

from Madagascar all the way to 

Zimbabwe, Africa. 

He was six years old, and 

unlike all the other giraffes, he 

had a very short neck. He was 

very shy and scared to 

introduce himself when he 

arrived, because he was as 

graceful as a ballerina, and 

most giraffes are clumsy . 

When he arrived, he saw a group 

of other giraffes by the watering 

hole, and he decided to be brave. 

He walked over to the group of 

giraffes who were eating leaves 

from trees. These giraffes were 

skyscrapers compared to Willy. 

Their necks were as tall as the 

trees.

“Hi,” he said, “My name is 

Willy.” The other giraffes looked 

at him. “Hi,” the first giraffe 

said. “I’m Flacka, and these are 

my brothers, Marco and Polo. 

And that is Daisy, my cousin.” 

Willy smiled at them, and 

decided that his travels had 

made him hungry. 

He tried and tried to reach for 

a leaf on the nearest tree, but 

it was too tall, and his neck 

was too short. He jumped, 

trying again. He grew 

embarrassed, and tried one 

last time, sighing in sadness. 

“Here, let me help you!” Flacka 

said. Phew, Willy thought. He 

watched as Flacka grabbed the 

leaves easily. “Thanks!” Willy 

said. He was about to take the 

leaves from Flacka, when she 

yanked them away.

“Haha! We don’t give leaves to 

giraffes with short necks!” The 

others laughed, and went back to 

the watering hole. 

Willy felt very sad. He thought 

that he was going to be friends 

with the giraffes! He went to 

sleep very sad and alone.

The next day, the same thing 

happened to Willy. He tried to get 

leaves, only this time Marco 

pretended to help him. Then he 

snatched them away just like 

Flacka. The other giraffes 

laughed. “We don’t give leaves to 

giraffes with short necks,” they 

said again. 

You've previewed 21 of 32 pages.

To read more: