A love letter to making friends from unexpected places, IF YOU MAKE A CALL ON A BANANA PHONE is silly, wise, and surprising all at once.

IF YOU MAKE A CALL ON A BANANA PHONE
by Gideon Sterer
illusrtated by Emily Hughes
Clarion Books/HarperCollins, September 2025

If you make a call from a banana phone, who will answer? What will you talk about? Will you share secrets or ask questions? No one knows what will happen, really. This very silly story is full of the joy and wisdom that comes from making new friends from unexpected places.

Go ahead, pick up a banana and make a call. You’ll be glad you did.

This story celebrates the importance of talking to others who may not come from the same place as you but can understand and empathize with you all the same. It’s a celebration of what we have in common, despite differences.

Gideon Sterer is a New York Times bestselling author who grew up in the woods of upstate New York. Not too far away, his parents owned a wildlife discovery center where he would run around after hours and let the animals out. His books include If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone, The Midnight Fair, I Will Read to You, and Treehouse Town.  

Emily Hughes is the award-winning author-illustrator of Wild, The Little Gardener, The Snail,and others. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, Emily Hughes now lives in London.