Jovi Giraffe Learns To Look by Patricia Bardina, Joanne Burgess & Paul Sharp

subtitled A Lesson in Eye Contact, and frankly a very valuable read for anyone who’s ever struggled with sociability.

This companion piece to Revony Rhinoceros Starts To Smile is another terrific book about how body language encourages relationships or otherwise. With its cute anthropomorphic cast, it’s an accessible way for people who struggle with social skills to learn about how something as seemingly simple a/o small as eye contact can be very nuanced and important when it comes to transmitting and understanding feelings.

Jovi Giraffe is nice and polite but has trouble making friends. He’ll readily engage in conversation but tends to looks everywhere but into the eyes of the person he’s talking with, leading others to believe that he’s just not that interested in them. Poor Jovi feels quite lonely as he makes his way to the park one day, after his lack of eye contact causes more than one friend to skip away to hang out with people they think actually want to spend time with them.

Limbani Lion notices that Jovi seems unhappy and, after chatting briefly, figures out what the problem is. Jovi feels too shy to look into other people’s eyes. Limbani informs him that eyes make different shapes to convey different feelings. Others instinctively assume that someone who doesn’t look at their eyes isn’t interested in how they feel. Jovi is surprised to hear this, and he and Limbani try transmitting and reading emotions by using primarily their eyes. Jovi soon understands the importance of eye contact, and begins using it to help him make friends.

Even as a person who constantly uses gregariousness to get her through innumerable social situations, I genuinely learned a lot from this book. I guess I never really thought about why eye contact is so important, despite being quite sensitive to it myself, so understanding the basic mechanics was very useful. I also loved how the information is presented, in a very straightforward, judgment-free format that makes this excellent reading for anyone of any age, kids and adults alike.

Jovi Giraffe Learns To Look by Patricia Bardina, Joanne Burgess & Paul Sharp was published July 19 2019 by Gatekeeper Press and is available from all good booksellers, including