We study the higher-order heat-type equation with first time and M-th spatial partial derivatives, M = 2, 3, ... . We demonstrate that its exact solutions for M even can be constructed with the help of signed Levy stable functions. For M odd the same role is played by a special generalization of Airy Ai function that we introduce and study. This permits one to generate the exact and explicit heat kernels pertaining to these equations. We examine analytically and graphically the spacial and temporary evolution of particular solutions for simple initial conditions.