I Am Not a Chair!

by Ross Burach, Ross Burach (Illustrator)

Overview

Grab the best seat in the house with this funny, touching picture book about a giraffe who keeps being mistaken for a chair!

From the acclaimed author-illustrator of There’s a Giraffe in My Soup comes a curious tale about finding one’s courage and standing up for oneself. Full of vibrant and playful illustrations and hilariously absurd logic, kids will want to read it again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062360168
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/14/2017
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	415,360
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ross Burach is an author and illustrator with a degree in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts. Since graduation, Ross has focused on designing characters and backgrounds for animation studios within children’s media. He has always loved combining words and pictures to create humor and has since found the perfect blend for a career in children’s books. Ross currently lives with his wife and daughter in a concrete jungle called Brooklyn. You can find Ross online at www.rossburach.com.

 

Ross Burach is an author and illustrator with a degree in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts. Since graduation, Ross has focused on designing characters and backgrounds for animation studios within children’s media. He has always loved combining words and pictures to create humor and has since found the perfect blend for a career in children’s books. Ross currently lives with his wife and daughter in a concrete jungle called Brooklyn. You can find Ross online at www.rossburach.com.

 

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2016
A giraffe, new to the jungle, can’t seem to persuade his fellow animals that he isn’t a piece of furniture. To them, he’s a chair, and chairs are for derrieres. “I’m a giraffe,” the giraffe complains to no one in particular (which is part of the problem) after being sat upon once again. “Can’t they see? I have spots and ears and eyes”—he points to his ossicones—“and whatever these things are.” Burach (There’s a Giraffe in My Soup) pursues the chain of consequences triggered by his wonderfully ridiculous premise with gleeful doggedness. The result is a steady stream of silliness that leads to a classic punch line, in which the core misunderstanding saves the put-upon protagonist from being eaten by a lion; a bonus final joke turns the tables yet again. Rat-a-tat dialogue and freewheeling cartooning, featuring a bounty of googly eyes and goofy expressions, make this a great readaloud for anyone who’s ever felt objectified or misunderstood—a wide audience if ever there was one. Ages 4–8. Agent: Lara Perkins, Andrea Brown Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Rat-a-tat dialogue and freewheeling cartooning, featuring a bounty of googly eyes and goofy expressions, make this a great readaloud for anyone who’s ever felt objectified or misunderstood-a wide audience if ever there was one.” — Publishers Weekly

“An engaging bit of silliness that should find a home in storytime and picture book collections.” — School Library Journal

“Yeah, I’d say that’s a winner! I laughed more with this book than I have in a while. The ending, especially, was a perfect touch. The illustrations are, of course, what make this book (because, really, a giraffe would not look like a chair otherwise).” — Literary Hoots

From the Publisher

Yeah, I’d say that’s a winner! I laughed more with this book than I have in a while. The ending, especially, was a perfect touch. The illustrations are, of course, what make this book (because, really, a giraffe would not look like a chair otherwise).

Literary Hoots

02/01/2017
PreS-Gr 1—Giraffe has a problem. It's his first day in the jungle, and everyone thinks he's a chair! All the animals take turns sitting on him—a monkey, a hippopotamus, and even a human mistake the herbivore for a comfy chair! Giraffe has no luck vocalizing his concern. However, when a lion decides to take a seat, Giraffe musters the courage to say, "I am not a chair!" Readers can engage with this goofy tale while also picking up the message of learning to speak up for themselves. The stylized cartoons are done in pencil and acrylic paint. Burach uses warm colors to depict a populated jungle that welcomes readers and the main character to a new environment. VERDICT An amusing bit of silliness that should find a home in storytime and picture book collections.—Briana Moore, Elmont Memorial Library, NY

School Library Journal

2016-11-16
A beleaguered giraffe tries to communicate that he isn't a chair.Poor Giraffe: on his first day in the jungle he's seen as a chair by the other animals. Of course, giraffes aren't actually found in jungles, and there's little evidence of a jungle in the illustrations. While Giraffe does look a little like a chair, the fact that he has eyes and a mouth and nose and other features that distinguish the other animals from their seats makes it hard to understand why he is mistaken for a chair. But it's all about the gag. Burach uses action-filled spreads to indicate a series of incidents that literally impede Giraffe's speech, but when he is finally able to speak up for himself, he chooses instead to make a fake chair that looks like him. When that doesn't work, he's taken home by a dull-witted human who also uses him for a chair. Upon escaping, he is used as a chair by a lion waiting for dinner. When Giraffe finally decides to speak up and clear up the misunderstanding, he saves his own skin by scaring the lion, who thinks he's a talking chair. The childlike drawings emphasize googly eyes, silly grins, a multitude of sound effects in emphatic display type, and lots of physical humor. While the slapstick may appeal to readers, sadly, this book is so confused and arbitrary, most of the humor falls flat. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews