Amazon.com Review
Every once in a while we become so enamored with a picture book that we have to sit tight for a while to keep from injuring or annoying others with our enthusiasm. Lena Landström's
The Little Hippos' Adventure is one such book. It's not surprising, really. We felt that way about
Boo and Baa in the Woods, too, an equally endearing book created by masters of understatement Lena and Olof Landström.
It all starts on a normal day on the hippos' fine muddy riverbank, as we view an aerial shot of hippos in the water, looking much like bobbing corks in Landström's winning illustrations. As we zoom in, we can see them relaxing, or splashing, tumbling, or paddling... with one exception: "Mrs. Hippopotamus, who lives nearby, is making seaweed pudding--just as she always does." And, as they always do, the little hippos ask if they can go dive off the Tall Cliff. Today, inexplicably, they get to go. It is a miracle! Of course, in their joy and excitement about diving off the Tall Cliff, they forget about the dangers of the jungle and how they are supposed to be careful. When the hungry hippos finish diving and swim back home upriver, they have a close call with a hungry crocodile!
Luckily, Mrs. Hippopotamus is at the right place at the right time, yells at the crocodile and scares it away. In our favorite, impossibly sweet scene, the scared hippos learn how dangerous these reptiles can be. "But they also learn that crocodiles can be funny." The three, cozy in a blanket, are laughing their heads off as Mrs. Hippopotamus reads to them from a book about a crocodiles. The next day, Mrs. H promises to help them build their new diving board as the little hippos reminisce about their day at the Tall Cliff. Sure, the story is simple. But it's as perfectly satisfying as a bedtime story gets, and Landström's winsome illustrations will charm the socks off anyone, just as she always does. (Ages 2 to 6) --Karin Snelson
From Publishers Weekly
Landstrom (the Boo and Baa books) explores the leisurely rhythms of childhood in this tale of a trio of young hippos. "On the hippos' fine muddy riverbank, everything is the same as it always is," the narrative begins, and lists its mainstays the big hippos relaxing in the warm water, nearby neighbor Mrs. Hippopotamus making her seaweed pudding. The young heroes, however, wish their diving board, which sits atop a wooden structure, were as high as Tall Cliff, an off-limits riverside ledge. "Every day they ask, `Can we go to Tall Cliff today?' But they never get to go. And then one day, after asking many, many times, they suddenly get to go." The spare text quietly builds suspense: "The little hippos have forgotten what was so dangerous in the jungle. Was it snakes?" After they dive from a ledge below the highest part of Tall Cliff, the trio swims home, pursued by a crocodile. Mrs. Hippopotamus saves the day, then embellishes their diving structure with a higher board, slide and swinging vine. "Down by the riverbank, everything is the same as it always is," the narrative circles back, yet the thoughts of the trio begin to stray ("It sure was fun at Tall Cliff!"). Landstrom's text captures the dynamics of this small community, and her unadorned, earth-toned art features endearing images of the diminutive threesome, especially as they timidly make their way through the jungle and peer, wide-eyed and warily, over the foreboding Tall Cliff. Ages 2-6.
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