Customer Reviews

The Hiccupotamus

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What happens when a purple rotund hippontimus has hiccups so fearce they blast everything and everyone around him into flight? Humor, that's what.

Author and illustrator Aaron Zenz presents a whimsical rhyme of epic proportions in his first children's picture book "The Hiccupontamus." Beautifully illustrated, and in a Dr. Suess-like manner, the story creates many words that would send Daniel Webster reeling.

"There was a hippopotamus
Who hiccupped quite-a-lotamus
And every time he got'emus
He'd fall upon his bottomus."

Zenz rendered all of the humorous cartoon illustrations using colored pencils, using 119 in all. The Spring Lake, Michigan resident holds an art degree from Hillsdale College. "The Hiccupotamus" took eight years to complete and is published by Chicago-based Dogs In Hats Children's Publishing.

The printing quality of the book is ultra-professional and brings out Zenz' pressure-applied pencils to vibrant life. It is often a competitive page quandary for the reader which to love most; the story or the drawings. The chemistry between text and pictures is remarkable, and rivals the best children's books ever published.

Aaron Zenz enjoys communicating with kids of all ages through art lessons to home schooled children and Sunday School classes. His outreach to children can only grow with this jewel of a book.

My 3 yr. old son received this book for his birthday and he and his 17 mo. old sister LOVE it. They want to read it all the time, at least 3 times in a row. They love making the 'Hic' sound for the Hippo and his friends, and my son can already fill in the blanks of the story with the silly words! He also sits and reads it aloud to himself saying, 'Hic' at every page. We love this fun and whimsical book! The pictures are so beautifully detailed and engaging, the kids stare at them at length. A book definitely worth your time and money if you have small children.

There is only one sure-fire way to get rid of the hiccups. You take a glass of water, you put a terry cloth towel over the top, and then you drink the water through the towel as slowly as possible. So it was with some sadness that I saw that "Hiccupotamus" (say THAT five times fast) did not contain that particular cure. Oh, it contained plenty more, often in twisted array of combinations. The product of a small time press (Dogs In Hats Children's Publishing, anyone?), this is one of those rather enjoyable picture books that defy the notion that a publishing house must be grand and grotesque to produce anything good. Colorful, deeply amusing (both visually and in the text), and more fun than it truly deserves to be, "Hiccupotamus" won me over in spite of myself. I don't usually go for picture books of this stripe, but it's hard to resist the sheer charm that makes up this pretty little book.

In rhyming verse we learn of the dire fate of an adorable purple hippopotamus. He got the hiccups, "quite-a-lotamus". At first he doesn't do much about the fact. Unfortunately, that means startling other creatures around and about him. An angry elephant starts chasing him once he disturbs her cake and cupcake dining. She's joined soon thereafter by a "centipede pouring new cementipede" and even by a rhinoceros. "... And that was the last strawcerous". Hiccup cures are employed, but they're doubled up for maximum effectiveness. This means, "They acquired an aquarium / And flashed him something scaryum". In the end, the hiccups are gone but seemingly have transferred to the elephant, centipede, and rhino instead. The last image we have in the book is of a revenge-minded hippo with a book entitled, "FIX HICS" clutched tightly in his hot little hands.

By and large, I try to avoid picture books that look cartoonish. Zenz, however, has done especially well with this form of colored pencil illustration. His hippo is a rounded benign little fellow, all chubby cheeks and worried eyes. It's fun to watch what Zenz does with the background colors of this book as well. Sometimes the sky is a lemon yellow with orange trees shedding leaves all about. Other times it's a light purple-pink sky with hot-pink trees instead. Fans of earth tones, beware. Zenz has a whole heaping palette of bright and cheery colors at his disposal and he's not afraid to employ them. His characters and settings are also beautifully shaded, giving otherwise cartoony images a warm rounded glow.

Not only do I tend to avoid books with cartoon-like imagery, I DEFINITELY avoid picture books that try to rhyme. Too often an author has only the vaguest sense of how to make any given line scan. Zenz, however, has considered the matter and found a form that fits him to a tee. Here's a typical four line stanza, "They tried to find a therapy / Some cure which they could shareapy / A what or why or whereapy / To stop this long nightmareapy". I can hear overly conscientious parents lamenting the creation of new words like "nightmareapy". To them I blow a great big raspberry. I LIKE what Zenz is doing here. Yeah, okay. Fine. It's not Ogden Nash. What it is instead is a lot of fun and a particularly good readaloud. I don't tend to say this very often, but if you wanted to read this book to a large group of second graders, you could do so with the greatest of ease. It just rolls off the tongue.

I'm sure that there are people out there that could come up with multiple picture books dealing with an onslaught of the hiccups. For me, the only one that came to mind after reading "Hiccupotamus" was "Skeleton Hiccups" by Margery Cuyler. The two books would actually pair together rather well, it now occurs to me. Neither one makes any use of my aforementioned sure-fire cure for hiccups, but that's okay. The overwhelming cheeriness of "Hiccupotamus" will win over even the most skeptical of parents (on a second reading, at the very least). Fun, frolicsome, and a definitely original work. Worth locating.

I purchased this book for my son through Scholastic Weekly Reader. It had an interesting cover although it was pink I thought I'll buy it anyway. When he brought it home from school we sat down immediately and began to read it. We were belly laughing so hard that I could hardly finish the book. I highly recommend this book. It's a great, fun, enjoyable, fantastic, quick and jazzy little read. Definately brings a smile to any face young or old.

The Hiccupotamus by Aaron Zenz is a vibrant picture book filled with a sense of humor that bounces off of the pages along with the colors. A hippo has a severe case of the hiccups and accidentally angers an elephant by hiccuping nearby. She chases after him and on the way they encounter a whole group of animals bothered by his hiccups. The text is done in a rollicking rhyme that will appeal to toddlers and preschoolers as well as the adults reading and listening. This book is quite simply a lot of fun. I would save it to pull out and brighten a rainy day.

For adults, Zenz's humor continues onto the final page of the book with the Cast Bios. My favorite is that "the part of the buffalo was played by a groundsquirrel named Arlo." For librarians, check out the subject headings, all rights reserved statement and other funny bits on the copyright page. Laugh-out-loud funny!

I heard this book read at story time with my 3 year old and was just as engaged as she was. The rhymes are cute and funny, and the length of the book was just right to hold her attention (although I was personally wishing it would go on a little longer, because it was so entertaining).

Vibrant colors and fun rhymes make this a book I will be delighted to have my kids bring me to read over and over. (As all parents know, it's hard to find that kind of book!) It clips along at a nice pace, and has plenty for children to explore visually on each page. Definitely a 5-star book!

Based on all the rave reviews I was hoping for more. The images are cute but the story is lacking, and I think all the made up words distract from the flow of the story. Neither myself or my husband enjoy reading it. I'm also not a big fan of having so many made up words in a story for young children who are still developing their language skills. Examples include: cementipede, elephantipede, shareapy, nightmareapy, quickerish, scaryum. One or two funny words in a story can be cute and humorous, but 2-3 per page is too much. Why three stars? Because my 3 year old son, who likes hippos, enjoys the story and laughs.

Although I have no children of my own, I am a long-time fan of children's literature. This book is a "must have!" The story and the illustrations...I was awestruck. I've yet to come across a child who hasn't asked me to read it again (and again...and again). It's now standard that I buy one any time I need to get a gift for a child.

I personally have known the author since we were young children. His talents were astounding even then, so it's no surprise to me that his first book would be such a success. I realize you may now think I'm biased, given the circumstances, but I assure you that this book compares with and surpasses many of the award-winning classics I studied in my children's lit classes as a college student. If you don't believe me, just look at all the other reviews.

Bravo, Aaron! Can't wait to see what you come out with next!

I had never heard of this book but saw it via "other people bought", so I
tried it for my grandchildren -- the parents and grandchildren love it!!
It is a beautiful book and the story is very clever and funny. I highly
recommend it.