A lonely toy hippo finds himself stuffed inside a toy crane game where he meets the buff-colored owl, a pig, and a goat who help him overcome his broken spirit, teach him about true friendship, how to embrace opportunities as they come, and not to fear life on the outside of the toy crane game.

However, when he is captured as a prize he's not sure he wants to leave his friends behind, not until he sees something in the face of a little girl that gives him hope for a wonderful life ahead.

The toy hippos’ life is about to change, in ways he only dreamed about, but can he find the strength to "let go" of the life he knows, leave behind his only friends?

Can this once rejected, reclaimed, teased and bullied, lonely hippo trust his friends, believe that his biggest adventures in life will begin when he leaves the comforts of his toy crane game home? Can his friends help him understand that to claim your own dreams, sometimes, you have to fall?

Harley Hippo & the Crane Game

Written by: Lisa Loucks Christenson
Illustrated by: Bill Looney

NOTICE: This is the Harley Hippo & the Crane Game, Story Preview Edition, published under its own unique ISBN Number. This sneak preview of the full book includes our gift of six electronic collector cards, including two exclusive cards that will only be distributed in this Story Preview Edition.

The purpose of this Story Preview Edition is to obtain reader feedback and suggestions, gauge interest in future titles with these characters, help us build our readership for this title and titles like this, help us determine the print run for the full edition of this book, and discover what interest there is in creating new collector cards in the future. If you like the cards let us know. We hope you enjoy this sneak peek and will want to purchase the full story for your library. Please note: This book is still in its final editing, some of the story in this Story Preview Edition, may not make it into the final cut of the full book.

The full edition of Harley Hippo and the Crane Game will be released on June 15, 2014. What better way to honor of all the father’s who have stood in front of the “crane games” of our lives, maybe even like the authors’ husband, David who knew the importance of finding one more quarter⎯and offered it at just the right time. Happy Father’s Day!