Nine years before the events of the #1 international bestseller The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old, Hendrik and his best friend Evert embark on a madcap adventure—with an unexpected guest. Hendrik Groen and Evert Duiker, faithful friends in good and bad times, are well over seventy and their lives have quieted down. They see each other once a week to play chess, have a drink, and grab a bite to eat while reflecting on life. But one day, their peace is rudely disturbed when Evert shows up on Hendrik's doorstep with a surprise in the form of an unexpected little guest. He had spotted a stroller with a baby in it—unattended for just a minute—and, in a moment of utter madness, decided to take it for a walk. Hilarious, right? Not to Hendrik, who can barely believe his friend's stupidity. After Evert regains recovers from his momentary lapse of sanity, the two seventy-year-olds resolve to return their charge to its parents—hopefully without being noticed. But the quiet neighborhood is now swarmed by bumbling police officers, and they realize that getting rid of their accidental foster child will be more difficult than expected . . .

Nine years before the events of the #1 international bestseller The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1⁄4 Years Old, Hendrik and his best friend Evert embark on a madcap adventure--with an unexpected guest. Hendrik Groen and Evert Duiker, faithful friends in good and bad times, are well over seventy and their lives have quieted down. They see each other once a week to play chess, have a drink, and grab a bite to eat while reflecting on life. But one day, their peace is rudely disturbed when Evert shows up on Hendrik's doorstep with a surprise in the form of an unexpected little guest. He had spotted a stroller with a baby in it--unattended for just a minute--and, in a moment of utter madness, decided to take it for a walk. Hilarious, right? Not to Hendrik, who can barely believe his friend's stupidity. After Evert regains recovers from his momentary lapse of sanity, the two seventy-year-olds resolve to return their charge to its parents--hopefully without being noticed. But the quiet neighborhood is now swarmed by bumbling police officers, and they realize that getting rid of their accidental foster child will be more difficult than expected . . .

A #1 international bestseller in the vein of Fredrik Bachman's A Man Called Ove: an irresistible, funny, charming, and tender-hearted tale about friendship, love, and an old man who is young at heart. "FUNNY AND FRANK...A STORY WITH A GREAT DEAL OF HEART."--Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of THE ROSIE PROJECT Technically speaking, Hendrik Groen is....elderly. But at age 83 1/4, this feisty, indomitable curmudgeon has no plans to go out quietly. Bored of weak tea and potted geraniums, exasperated by the indignities of aging, Hendrik has decided to rebel--on his own terms. He begins writing an exposé: secretly recording the antics of day-to-day life in his retirement home, where he refuses to take himself, or his fellow "inmates," too seriously. With an eccentric group of friends he founds the wickedly anarchic Old-But-Not-Dead Club--"Rule #3: No Whining Allowed"--and he and his best friend, Evert, gleefully stir up trouble, enraging the home's humorless director and turning themselves into unlikely heroes. And when a sweet and sassy widow moves in next door, he polishes his shoes, grooms what's left of his hair, and determines to savor every ounce of joy in the time he has left, with hilarious and tender consequences. A bestselling phenomenon that has captured imaginations around the world, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is inspiring, charming, and laugh-out-loud funny with a deep and poignant core: a page-turning delight for readers of any age.

This inclusive guide to how every family begins is an honest, cheerful tool for conversations between parents and their young ones. To make a baby you need one egg, one sperm, and one womb. But every family starts in its own special way. This book answers the "Where did I come from?" question no matter who the reader is and how their life began. From all different kinds of conception through pregnancy to the birth itself, this candid and cozy guide is just right for the first conversations that parents will have with their children about how babies are made.

The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

Nine years before the events of the #1 international bestseller The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old, Hendrik and his best friend Evert embark on a madcap adventure—with an unexpected guest. Hendrik Groen and Evert Duiker, faithful friends in good and bad times, are well over seventy and their lives have quieted down. They see each other once a week to play chess, have a drink, and grab a bite to eat while reflecting on life. But one day, their peace is rudely disturbed when Evert shows up on Hendrik's doorstep with a surprise in the form of an unexpected little guest. He had spotted a stroller with a baby in it—unattended for just a minute—and, in a moment of utter madness, decided to take it for a walk. Hilarious, right? Not to Hendrik, who can barely believe his friend's stupidity. After Evert regains recovers from his momentary lapse of sanity, the two seventy-year-olds resolve to return their charge to its parents—hopefully without being noticed. But the quiet neighborhood is now swarmed by bumbling police officers, and they realize that getting rid of their accidental foster child will be more difficult than expected . . .