Snow was falling heavily and everything Joe could see was covered in white. The wind had been whistling through his enclosure all day. Joe was miserable and cold, very cold. Normally he loved living in the zoo; he loved all the other animals; he loved the keepers; and most of all, he loved the visitors but with the awful weather it had meant that there had been no children to see him for days. Children were Joe’s favourite visitors with their cheery laughter and chatter. When they came, he would lower his long neck to be closer to them and nuzzle their hands. But today he couldn’t move his neck at all; it was stiff from the icy wind. In fact not only did his neck ache, but his head ached and worse, he was lonely and miserable!
At half past three Nancy, the zoo-keeper’s daughter would come running over to see Joe for the Giraffe was her favourite. Nancy always came to say hello to all the animals after school, and she always had a tasty snack for Joe. The Giraffe would bend down and nuzzle her neck, his long tongue tickling her and making Nancy giggle.
But today Nancy could see that something was wrong, Joe didn’t run to the fence to greet her, or put his head down to see what she had brought him.
“Daddy, what’s wrong with Joe?” She cried.
“He’s not very well” answered the keeper, “I think the draught has given him a stiff neck, I just don’t know what to do with him, he’s so miserable. I wish I could think of a way to help him”
“I have an idea,” shouted Nancy as she ran off down the path. “See you tomorrow Joe, and I’ll have a surprise for you!”
The next day, the snow was still falling, the wind was still howling and Joe didn’t feel any better.
As promised at half past three, Nancy came running up to see him, but this time she wasn’t on her own, behind her was her teacher, and all of her classmates from school. Joe was really pleased to see them and they had a wonderful present for him.
Nancy’s Gran had been in her class and shown all the children how to knit. Each one of the children had made a colourful woollen square and Nancy’s Gran had stitched them all together to make Joe the longest, brightest scarf you ever saw! Thirty beautifully knitted squares all sewn together to make a lovely warm scarf.
Nancy’s dad brought the ladder and starting at the top, he wound the scarf around Joe’s neck. Joe was delighted.
That night the Giraffe was the warmest, proudest animal in the zoo, and the next morning his neck was as good as new!
When the Giraffe came out of his house in the morning, the snow had stopped falling and the sun had started shining. But even better, Joe had thirty new friends, he was now the happiest Giraffe in the world.
