HARRIET ZIEFERT is a former elementary school teacher from North Bergen, New Jersey. A graduate of Smith College, she also holds an MA in Education from NYU. She is the bestselling author of more than 250 children's books and has developed easy-to-read series for several major publishing houses. As founder of Blue Apple Books, she has published over 500 titles, many of which have become best-selling modern classics. Harriet Ziefert continues to create and publish books from her home, where she now lives, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

TRAVIS FOSTER, a graduate of the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, has been illustrating for more than 25 years. Kirkus Reviews praised his work in What's New at the Zoo? as "ingenious illustrations [that] feature antic cartoonish animals in an explosion of colors ...." His editorial and advertising clients include Target, Disney, Forbes, Internet Week, Aetna, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Foster lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife and four children.

"This story shows how Really Bird and his friends handle conflict and use problem-solving to resolve their issue in a positive and fair manner. The text and illustrations align beautifully to showcase the animated interaction of the friends." -- School Library Journal

"Brightly colored speech bubbles and cartoon illustrations with minimal details against a neutral background make reading both the text and illustrations easy for new readers. . . The true nature of these three characters shine as they problem-solve and share fairly." - Kirkus Reviews

"Really's yearning to be first should resonate . . . and Foster's stripped-down but emotionally operatic cartooning tempers with just the right amount of goofiness." - Publishers Weekly of I Really Want to Be First!

"Fans of Elephant and Piggie will REALLY love Ziefert's and Foster's new early comic series. Appearing in speech bubbles, Ziefert's lively text is all dialogue making the story easy for kids to access. Foster's bright and energetic illustrations fill the pages and will captivate kids. As a reading specialist, I love that the stores teach and reinforce positive virtues such as friendship, teamwork, sharing, and kindness." -Beagles and Books

"Perfect for classroom or daycare reading and learning." -Sincerely Stacie

"This series is so well done! The author uses Really Bird and his friends to show real conflicts children have on a day to day basis and how this group of pals works through these situations. Both books present so many wonderful character traits like: compassion, kindness, teamwork etc. As a school counselor, I love the emphasis on being fair and working together towards a solution that will benefit all. I also really value the discussion topics and questions in the back-matter that that can help parents navigate conversations with their children!" - BooksGrowMinds

Publisher: Red Comet Press

Pub date: 2022-04-12

Length: 48 pages