________________ CM . . . . Volume XIV Number 21. . . .June 13, 2008

cover

One Hippo Hops. (Alligator Tales).

Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen.
Toronto, ON: Key Porter Books, 2008.
14 pp., board, $7.95.
ISBN 978-1-55470-007-3.

Subject Heading:
Hippopotamus-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool / Ages 1-4.

Review by Dave Jenkinson.

*** /4

   
cover

Hip Hippos. (Alligator Tales).

Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen.
Toronto, ON: Key Porter Books, 2008.
14 pp., board, $7.95.
ISBN 978-1-55470-009-7.

Subject Heading:
Hippopotamus-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool / Ages 1-4.

Review by Dave Jenkinson.

*** /4

   
cover

Sad, Mad, Glad Hippos. (Alligator Tales).

Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen.
Toronto, ON: Key Porter Books, 2008.
14 pp., board, $7.95.
ISBN 978-1-55470-008-0.

Subject Heading:
Hippopotamus-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool / Ages 1-4.

Review by Dave Jenkinson.

*** /4

   

excerpt:

One hippo hops
Two hippos jump.
Three hippos jog.
Four hippos bump. (From
One Hippo Hops.)


Hippos wearing
Bright red tank tops.

Hippos dressed in
Purple flip-flops. (From
Hip Hippos.)


Hippos sad
Hippos blue,
Having nothing
Else to do.

No books to read.
No games to play.
Hippos sad,
A real gray day. (From
Sad, Mad, Glad Hippos.)

 

Cute and adorable are not adjectives that I would normally apply to hippopotamuses, but Vlasta van Kampen's anthropomorphic illustrations definitely render them delightfully so in this trio of board books poetically authored by Jane Yolen.

internal art     One Hippo Hops is a very simple counting book that deals with the numbers from one to 10. With the exception of the number 10, the very brief text connected with each number simply consists of three words, with the last word, a verb, being a form of locomotion. Through the number six, each pair of facing pages treats two numbers, and from seven to 10, the increasing number of hippos call for double page spreads. The text for 10 brings this book to closure with the hippos in their favorite place:

Ten hippos follow
All the way home
And into the wallow.

     As an introductory counting book, One Hippo Hops is quite successful as van Kampen's illustrations make it easy for young readers to count the hippos. Yolen's language also invites youngsters to emulate how the hippos were moving.

internal art     Only by opening Hip Hippos does one discover that this board book is actually about colours: red, purple, white, brown, green, blue, yellow, and gold., and tangentially, articles of clothing. As can be seen from the colours listed above, the list is incomplete, and the clothing the hippos don extends to vestments, such as blue dungarees and golden hip boots, that are likely outside most toddlers' personal experience. However, such criticism overlooks the fact that the book's real purpose is simply imaginative fun as van Kampen reveals, for instance, a chorus line of five red tank-top-wearing hippos who are strutting their stuff in their purple flip flops. From context, youngsters will figure out that the hippo who is trying to get his dungarees over his "mammoth knees" is actually putting on what youngsters know as blue jeans. Without supplying a colour, van Kampen offers yet one more as Yolen's concluding text sees the hippos:

Dressed so fine,
Hip hippos follow
Colorfully
Into the wallow.

internal art     Sad, Mad, Glad Hippos demands a bit more of its readers/listeners/viewers as its contents move into the area of emotions. Sad because they have nothing to do, five hippo youngsters then become angry and take their anger out on each other before being assigned to the ‘time-out chair.' With time to reflect, the

Hippos sorry,
They are bad.
Hippos ready
to be glad.

     And what better place to be glad than - where else? - the wallow.

     Again, van Kampen's illustrations bring life to Yolen's words and accurately reflect the range of emotions that the hippos go through.

     This trio of board books, which would make a wonderful gift for a newborn, have a place in all libraries serving preschoolers.

Recommended.

Dave Jenkinson, who is CM's editor, lives in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
Hosted by the University of Manitoba.
 

NEXT REVIEW | TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - June 13, 2008.

AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME