Neck & Neck

A giraffe with sky-high attitude, wildly fluctuating facial expressions, and a knack for spot-on zingers lifts this latest outing from Parsley (If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t!) to hilarious heights. The only giraffe at the zoo, lofty Leopold relishes the undivided attention and the ample snacks that young visitors shower upon him—until he comes snout-to-snout with an imposter: a balloon shaped like a giraffe featuring an impossibly wide, toothy grin. When the kid holding the balloon boasts about his giraffe’s assets, Leopold takes his bruised ego to his favorite tree, where he chomps off a branch and punctures the “grinning goofus.” His triumph is short-lived, since the kid reappears holding multiple identical balloons—not quite tightly enough, as it turns out—catapulting Leopold into a moral dilemma (“To save. Or not to save?”). Revealing the spindly hero in an array of silly poses and overblown moods, Parsley’s digital illustrations deliver a laugh on each spread. And readers will cheer on Leopold as he opts to take the high road—and ends up on top. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. [em](June) [/em]