I gotta testify, come up in the spot looking extra fly

What noise does a giraffe make?


Young Ben and I were playing with all his animal friends last week and I was doing my best to impersonate the relevant noises they make.


Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore were easy as they even have their own songs. Oh how we love that crazy jovial Eeyore and clap our ears along with him to show we are happy


The Gruffalo book even allows for dozy old codgers like me and makes the noises for you as you read the story


I can quack and make the silly Donald Duck voice as good as the next man and normal animal noises like elephants, bears, dogs and cats are like water off Donald's back. Ben's personal favourite is my 'eeh eeh eeh' noise for the little monkey he has. The ensuing sore throat is well worth it for the chuckles from Ben

But a giraffe? They are certainly not the most loquacious of animals and there seems to be some debate about whether they make any noise at all

It seems to me that over the years giraffes have had somewhat of a raw deal. How many famous giraffes do you know? Perhaps Geoffrey the Giraffe who found fame as the mascot for Toys 'R' Us but he worked long hours and never got a day off.

Then there was the giraffe from the wonderful Roald Dahl story 'The Giraffe and The Pelly and Me' who was part of The Ladderless Window Cleaning Company but to the best of my recollection he did not have a name. Even the pelican was referred to as 'Pelly'

I have mentioned before that when I was young my dad used to take me to see Tarzan movies. I recall seeing Tarzan fight lions, crocodiles, snakes and even tigers on his visit to India but I don't remember him in a life or death tussle with a giraffe.

Tarzan had allies in the elephants and monkeys, particularly his sidekick Cheeta, but why was he never rescued from deadly quicksand or a deep pit by the long helpful neck of a heroic giraffe. No, I am afraid giraffes were the Switzerland of Tarzan movies only seen in bad cutaway moments masticating on leaves other beers could not reach and sharing the screen with those black and white horsey looking things

But wait, along comes Sophie the Giraffe, one of the best selling children's toys ever (Ben has two, as the first one lost her squeak in the wash). Sophie was born in Paris on May 25th 1961 which apparently is St Sophie's Day. Since then over 30 million Sophies have been sold. She is everything you would expect of a French mademoiselle. She is cute,has long legs, oozes style, is slightly aloof and all the boys love her. According to her agent she is soft, light and easy to grasp and is perfect for little hands, making a happy sound when squeezed.Strangely though she does not smoke.

Apparently Sophie aids in the Sensory Development of your child stimulating each of his senses from the age of 3 months.These include...
TOUCH : Touch is the first means baby has of communicating with the outside world. Sophie the Giraffe's soft feel is just like mummy's skin, stimulating soothing physiological and emotional responses that soothe baby. (I am not sure Claire would appreciate her skin being compared to that of a giraffe)

SMELL : The singular scent of natural rubber (from the Hevea tree) makes Sophie the Giraffe very special and easy for your child to identify amid all his other toys. (who doesn't like the smell of natural rubber)

It will be her 50th birthday on Wednesday and Young Ben and I will be celebrating with a cake and a lot of candle blowing. I think we bought her a scarf as a present.

Bon Anniversaire Sophie! I hope I look as good as you when I reach 50.

ps Apologies to any of my readers who woke up this morning to discover that Harold Camping was incorrect and the only Rapture going was being sung by Blondie on the radio and have therefore been subjected to yet another Blog