Cappy West in Iceland

Cappy West packed for a frozen white wasteland. Iceland had other plans. Meet Cappy West — a friendly capybara with a brass compass, a sage-green bandana, and absolutely no sense of direction. He never sets out to learn anything. The learning just keeps finding him. In Book 12 of Cappy West: The Global Explorer, Cappy arrives in Iceland and gets everything delightfully wrong. He finds painted houses and ground that breathes steam instead of a white desert. He climbs a "hill" that turns out to be Europe's biggest glacier, tries to rescue a puffin that didn't need rescuing, glides across a field on a little horse with a secret extra walk, stays up all night under a sun that won't set, and follows a small white fox straight under the Northern Lights. Along the way, young readers discover real, verified facts about Iceland: Reykjavík, the world's northernmost capital; the "Land of Fire and Ice" and its many volcanoes; streets and homes warmed by hot water from deep underground; the mighty Vatnajökull, the biggest glacier in Europe; puffins, the "clowns of the sea"; the Icelandic horse and its smooth gliding tölt; the midnight sun; the Arctic fox; and the shimmering Northern Lights. Every short chapter pairs a funny blunder with a true discovery, a Fun Fact, and a gentle Cappy Tip about kindness, curiosity, and slowing down to notice the world. The book closes with a Travel Scrapbook, a fact recap, and a quiz to share. Perfect for ages 6–8 (grades 2–3), confident new readers, bedtime read-alouds, and homeschool trips around the globe. Each book stands on its own — or collect the whole around-the-world series. "I wasn't lost — I was just taking the scenic route to this fact!"