Ruth Symons is the author of several children's books, including A Year in the Wild, Christmas Lights, the Paper World series and the Sophie la girafe board books. When she's not writing and editing, Ruth loves gardening, hiking and hosting elaborate teddy bear tea parties with her young daughter.

Sophie la girafe first went into production on May 25th 1961 - also known as Saint Sophie's Day. The product was named after the saint, and was an immediate success.

By simple word of mouth, the little giraffe's fame spread. From then on, generations of children around the world have loved hearing Sophie squeak whenever they press her tummy or head! Sophie la girafe has sold more than 50 million teether toys worldwide.

To this day, Sophie still looks exactly the same, and is produced using the same traditional techniques. She is made from 100% natural rubber derived from the latex of the hevea tree, in a process that involves more than 14 natural operations.

Sophie returns to bookshelves in this brand-new range of beautiful books.