diff --git a/src/encoding.js b/src/encoding.js
index 51aa2ad..8e7ca49 100644
--- a/src/encoding.js
+++ b/src/encoding.js
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import { ParquetEncoding, ParquetType } from './constants.js'
 import { readVarInt } from './thrift.js'
 
 /**
+ * Return type with bytes read.
+ * This is useful to advance an offset through a buffer.
+ *
  * @typedef {import("./types.d.ts").Decoded<T>} Decoded
  * @template T
  */
diff --git a/src/header.js b/src/header.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6c6e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/header.js
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import { deserializeTCompactProtocol } from './thrift.js'
+
+/**
+ * Return type with bytes read.
+ * This is useful to advance an offset through a buffer.
+ *
+ * @typedef {import("./types.d.ts").Decoded<T>} Decoded
+ * @template T
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Read parquet header from a buffer.
+ *
+ * @typedef {import("./types.d.ts").PageHeader} PageHeader
+ * @param {ArrayBuffer} arrayBuffer parquet file contents
+ * @param {number} offset offset to start reading from
+ * @returns {Decoded<PageHeader>} metadata object and bytes read
+ */
+export function parquetHeader(arrayBuffer, offset) {
+  // DataView for easier manipulation of the buffer
+  const view = new DataView(arrayBuffer)
+
+  const headerBuffer = view.buffer.slice(offset)
+  const { value: header, byteLength } = deserializeTCompactProtocol(headerBuffer)
+
+  // Parse parquet header from thrift data
+  const type = header.field_1
+  const uncompressed_page_size = header.field_2
+  const compressed_page_size = header.field_3
+  const crc = header.field_4
+  const data_page_header = header.field_5 && {
+    num_values: header.field_5.field_1,
+    encoding: header.field_5.field_2,
+    definition_level_encoding: header.field_5.field_3,
+    repetition_level_encoding: header.field_5.field_4,
+    statistics: header.field_5.field_5 && {
+      max: header.field_5.field_5.field_1,
+      min: header.field_5.field_5.field_2,
+      null_count: header.field_5.field_5.field_3,
+      distinct_count: header.field_5.field_5.field_4,
+      max_value: header.field_5.field_5.field_5,
+      min_value: header.field_5.field_5.field_6,
+    },
+  }
+  const index_page_header = header.field_6
+  const dictionary_page_header = header.field_7 && {
+    num_values: header.field_7.field_1,
+    encoding: header.field_7.field_2,
+    is_sorted: header.field_7.field_3,
+  }
+  const data_page_header_v2 = header.field_8 && {
+    num_values: header.field_8.field_1,
+    num_nulls: header.field_8.field_2,
+    num_rows: header.field_8.field_3,
+    encoding: header.field_8.field_4,
+    definition_levels_byte_length: header.field_8.field_5,
+    repetition_levels_byte_length: header.field_8.field_6,
+    is_compressed: header.field_8.field_7,
+    statistics: header.field_8.field_8,
+  }
+
+  return {
+    byteLength,
+    value: {
+      type,
+      uncompressed_page_size,
+      compressed_page_size,
+      crc,
+      data_page_header,
+      index_page_header,
+      dictionary_page_header,
+      data_page_header_v2,
+    },
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/types.d.ts b/src/types.d.ts
index fa6057e..daa27b8 100644
--- a/src/types.d.ts
+++ b/src/types.d.ts
@@ -142,3 +142,42 @@ interface SortingColumn {
   descending: boolean
   nulls_first: boolean
 }
+
+// Parquet file header types
+export interface PageHeader {
+  type: PageType
+  uncompressed_page_size: number
+  compressed_page_size: number
+  crc?: number
+  data_page_header?: DataPageHeader
+  index_page_header?: IndexPageHeader
+  dictionary_page_header?: DictionaryPageHeader
+  data_page_header_v2?: DataPageHeaderV2
+}
+
+export interface DataPageHeader {
+  num_values: number
+  encoding: Encoding
+  definition_level_encoding: Encoding
+  repetition_level_encoding: Encoding
+  statistics?: Statistics
+}
+
+interface IndexPageHeader {}
+
+export interface DictionaryPageHeader {
+  num_values: number
+  encoding: Encoding
+  is_sorted?: boolean
+}
+
+interface DataPageHeaderV2 {
+  num_values: number
+  num_nulls: number
+  num_rows: number
+  encoding: Encoding
+  definition_levels_byte_length: number
+  repetition_levels_byte_length: number
+  is_compressed?: boolean
+  statistics?: Statistics
+}
diff --git a/test/encoding.test.js b/test/encoding.test.js
index b6e5fb1..8a15644 100644
--- a/test/encoding.test.js
+++ b/test/encoding.test.js
@@ -89,3 +89,5 @@ describe('readPlain', () => {
     expect(() => readPlain(dataView, invalidType, 1, 0)).toThrow(`Unhandled type: ${invalidType}`)
   })
 })
+
+// TODO: Add tests for readData