Giraffes Have More Fun

Sally wants to be a giraffe. After all, with their jumping ability and lofty outlook on life, these stately animals are bound to have more fun than children. Though there's no real plot development in this modest first book, kids will become as engrossed as Sally does in her imaginative play. She fantasizes about the many benefits of being a giraffe--``I'd have an extra long stocking filled with presents at Christmas''; ``I'd always win the high jump on Sports Day.'' In limpid, homey watercolors, Riches fills these scenes with a sense of gawky glee as a costumed Sally--in paint-dotted sheet and hobby-horse's head--explores her longed-for abilities. Though the fixated heroine begins to forget to be a little girl, mother pushes her daughter's childhood buttons in an amusing display of parental logic. This genial, well-crafted glimpse into the world of ``let's pretend'' ends on a healthy--if temporarily kid-deflating--note of reality. Ages 5-up. (May)