Giraffe Meets Bird

An endearing board-book prequel to the laugh-out-loud Giraffe and Bird collection by the award-winning Rebecca Bender

For more than a decade Rebecca Bender's award-winning Giraffe and Bird books have been tickling the funny bones of children and their families as the cantankerous cronies learn that friendship, while not always easy, is always worthwhile. But how did this unlikely pair become friends in the first place? In Giraffe Meets Bird, Bender's bright acrylics and lively storytelling reveal the friends' early days while pairs of scrumptious synonyms make her trademark rich vocabulary accessible to a new, younger audience.

When the egg in Giraffe's tree first hatches, he is excited and eager. But the baby bird grows quickly, and he soon learns how to make Giraffe angry and annoyed. It doesn't take long for Giraffe and Bird to start fighting over their tree. When danger forces them to work together, the two not-quite-friends realize they might not be able to share their home at all. Luckily, they come up with a solution that is surprising, startling, and absolutely stunning.

Rebecca Benderis a well-loved author-illustrator of children's books as well as an art director and designer. Her books include the popular Giraffe and Bird collection, How Do You Feel? and the illustrations for Peach Girl by Raymond Namakura, as well as those for the acclaimed Slug Days, Penguin Days, and Duck Days written by Sara Leach. Rebecca's awards and honors include the OLA Blue Spruce Award, a Cooperative Children's Book Center best-of-the-year choice, and a Toronto Public Library best-of-the-year selection. She graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design at the top of her class, earning the Medal for Illustration. Rebecca lives in Burlington, Ontario, with her husband and two children.