There’s an important lesson for young children in this sweet story. The Heavenly Hippos Wildlife Park is awarding gold stars and George the Giraffe really hopes to win one. The penguins win ‘Most Popular Animal’, and George is genuinely pleased for them. George always keeps his area spick and span, but he helps his best friend Seymour tidy up and the lemurs win ‘Tidiest’. George feels he has ‘Most Stylish’ in the bag, but that too goes elsewhere. George is disappointed but next morning, the animals award George Gold Stars for being such a good friend, and he knows how it feels to be a winner! A fun story, with appealing illustrations, and lots of opportunities for discussion. ~ Andrea Reece
A Piece of Passion from the EditorGold Star for George is the second book featuring George the Giraffe. He is one of my favourite characters, beautifully illustrated by the talented Kimberley Scott. I am pleased that we were able to have another book done in collaboration between Alice and Kim. We also plan to have more in the future!
The Heavenly Hippo Wildlife park is having a competition for its residents and the winners will receive a gold star! George the Giraffe has the perfect spot on his fence for one but, although he helps his friends win theirs, there is just no gold star forthcoming for George. Luckily, when the competition is over, George’s friends club together to make him lots of stars to show him how much they appreciate him. So George ends up with lots of stars!
A Gold Star for George continues down the same themes of friendship and acceptance as seen in The Black and White Club.
Alice Thorp, who writes under her maiden name of Hemming, released her first picture book, The Black and White Club, in September 2013. Alice is now the author of over fifty books for children, including the bestselling Dark Unicorns series (Scholastic), and picture book, The Leaf Thief with illustrator Nicola Slater (Scholastic 2020), which has sold across the world and been translated into nineteen languages. Alice lives in Hertfordshire, UK with her husband and two children, and works in a writing shed at the top of her garden.