One of the nice benefits from being an Amazon Prime member is their monthly first reads program. Every month Prime members are offered 6 to 8 titles that they can purchase for free. I'm not sure how these are selected. Some are new books, some are older. Some months there's nothing that appeals to me. Other months, I have trouble deciding which book to select.
In January, my sister-in-law texted me a recommendation to West with Giraffes, by Lynda Rutledge. I hadn't yet selected my first read title and this was one of them. My sister-in-law have pretty similar tastes in reading so off I went to download this one.
What a different tale this tells. Woodrow Wilson Nickel is an elderly man in a nursing home when he learns that giraffes are going extinct. He had an experience with giraffes back in 1938. He's over 100 and is now determined that his story about his time with the giraffes doesn't end with him.
This is a coming of age story, a story about the benefits that animals bring to the lives of the humans who interact with them, a story about remembering... and about passing along stories to those who might care about the stories being told.
Woody is a survivor of the Dust Bowl. He finds himself in New York facing yet another tragedy when he first spots the giraffes. He learns that they are traveling across the country to go live at the San Diego Zoo. This is based on a true story of the giraffes cross-country trip. It's an eloquent time piece and heartwarming to watch the way Woody grows up and develops as the story moves along.
West with Giraffes is based on a true story of the first San Diego Zoo's giraffes cross-country journey. I highly recommend.
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