Giraffe is bored, as usual. He'd love a friend to share things with. So he writes a letter and sends it as far as possible across the other side of the horizon. There he finds a pen pal--Penguin. Giraffe knows nothing about penguins and his letters are full of questions. Where is a penguin's neck? Can a penguin fly? Penguin answers as best he can. But no one expects what happens when the pen pals come face to face at last. An enduring bestseller in its native Japan, Yours Sincerely, Giraffe is a funny tale of mistaken assumptions and friendship.

Examines the height of a giraffe through simple text, photograph, and measurement comparisons.

"Read about the title character, a giraffe that has become a vampire with a sweet tooth for bakery goods."--Provided by publisher.

From Epic Originals comes a collection of illustrated stories serving up spooky thrills and plenty of laughs. When the lunch bell rings at Newville Elementary, you can bet that things are about to get WEIRD! Welcome to the Cafetorium! It's a cafeteria, a gymnasium, and possibly a portal to a world where cube-shaped mashed potatoes are plotting against the almost-definitely-robotic lunch staff. Join Liz Dawson, Declan, Remy, and the rest of Newville Elementary as they learn that when you have plans in the Cafetorium, the Cafetorium has plans for you, too! Each offbeat tale focuses on a different Newville Elementary student, giving readers a chance to walk in another kid's slightly wacky shoes. Funny, unexpected twists in each story provide readers with subtle lessons about honesty, consequences, self-acceptance, and more.

Three children go on a polar expedition in this thrilling adventure story for newly independent readers that blurs realism and imagination. Ida, Max, and Jack go to the creek one winter's day. They play on an ice floe then find themselves floating away—all the way to the polar ice, with just a box, a branch and some sandwiches. "You probably don't think it's true, and we didn't either, not even while it was happening..." They find an old hut, meet penguins, see extraordinary things, and, after testing their resources in this dramatic land of ice and snow, come home safe at the end of the day. "What shall we say about where we've been?" asked Max. "Tell the truth," I said. "We don't know." To the Ice is a beautifully produced chapter book that absorbs young readers in a real-life make-believe filled with problem-solving and adventure. This is a thrilling and plot-filled story for budding explorers and ice adventurers—the kind of book children will remember throughout their lives. Thomas Tidholm is a Swedish photographer, poet, playwright, and writer. He and Anna-Clara Tidholm have together created a string of award-winning books for children since the early 1980s. Anna-Clara Tidholm is one of Sweden's leading children's book authors and illustrators with a varied and rich bibliography. Her prizes include the Elsa Beskow plaque, German Youth Literature Prize, Astrid Lindgren prize and August prize. Translated from the Swedish edition by Julia Marshall. Praise for To the Ice "[A]n enthralling blend of survivalist realism and fantasy."—Publishers Weekly "This utter delight of a story is highly recommended!"—Readings, Australia "A good children's book ignites curiosity in adults. To the Ice left me with research rabbit holes to go down and connections to make. On one level, this is an adventure story along the lines of Where the Wild Things Are." —New Zealand Herald

One day, Dad's hair decided it was tired of being brushed and combed. It wanted a life of its own, to see the world. It took off. Out of the bathroom, into the kitchen, and before you could say, "Hairsta la vista, baby!" it was gone. Dad gives chase around the town. He spots his hair hiding in the lawn, on the road, at the zoo—it's amazing how many things look like hair. He gives up and tries to accept life without hair. Then the postcards arrive. The hair is on a round-the-world trip, and Dad is still bald. Until one day the unbelievable happens and the hair comes back. A fast-paced, wonderfully absurd story packed with wordplay and hilarious illustrations. When Dad's Hair Took Off is a comical chapter book for early readers or for any child to enjoy reading aloud with a grownup who relates! A fun book to celebrate and share with Dad on Father's Day or any day. Translated from the German edition by Melody Shaw, which was shortlisted for multiple awards. Jörg Mühle studied illustration in Offenbach and Paris. He has been illustrating for books and magazines since 2000. He is the author and illustrator of worldwide bestselling interactive bedtime book for toddlers, Tickle My Ears. Praise for When Dad's Hair Took Off “[A]ll the relish of a tall tale, deadpan timing, and choice vocabulary."—starred, Foreword Reviews "Get ready for a hair-raising—or should we say hair-racing?—chase and an abundance of absurdity and witty wordplay.”—Kirkus Reviews "An early chapter book—the kind Gecko Press excels at."—Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production "When Dad's Hair took Off is the perfect book to read when you feel like a good dollop of humour sprinkled with imagination and steeped in word play, I mean horse play, I mean HAIR play.”—NZ Poetry Box

The New York Times Bestseller from the author of Travel Light, Move Fast "One of the gutsiest memoirs I've ever read. And the writing--oh my god the writing."—Entertainment Weekly A child of the Rhodesian wars and daughter of two deeply complicated parents, Alexandra Fuller is no stranger to pain. But the disintegration of Fuller’s own marriage leaves her shattered. Looking to pick up the pieces of her life, she finally confronts the tough questions about her past, about the American man she married, and about the family she left behind in Africa. A breathtaking achievement, Leaving Before the Rains Come is a memoir of such grace and intelligence, filled with such wit and courage, that it could only have been written by Alexandra Fuller. Leaving Before the Rains Come begins with the dreadful first years of the American financial crisis when Fuller’s delicate balance—between American pragmatism and African fatalism, the linchpin of her unorthodox marriage—irrevocably fails. Recalling her unusual courtship in Zambia—elephant attacks on the first date, sick with malaria on the wedding day—Fuller struggles to understand her younger self as she overcomes her current misfortunes. Fuller soon realizes what is missing from her life is something that was always there: the brash and uncompromising ways of her father, the man who warned his daughter that "the problem with most people is that they want to be alive for as long as possible without having any idea whatsoever how to live." Fuller’s father—"Tim Fuller of No Fixed Abode" as he first introduced himself to his future wife—was a man who regretted nothing and wanted less, even after fighting harder and losing more than most men could bear. Leaving Before the Rains Come showcases Fuller at the peak of her abilities, threading panoramic vistas with her deepest revelations as a fully grown woman and mother. Fuller reveals how, after spending a lifetime fearfully waiting for someone to show up and save her, she discovered that, in the end, we all simply have to save ourselves. An unforgettable book, Leaving Before the Rains Come is a story of sorrow grounded in the tragic grandeur and rueful joy only to be found in Fuller’s Africa.