From Publishers Weekly
This visually poetic book's subtitle is longer than its entire text: "A true story in which a baby hippo loses his Mama during a tsunami, but finds a new home, and a new Mama." Using only two words, "Mama" and "Baby," Winter (
The Librarian of Basra) reveals the true plight of a baby hippo rescued after the December 2004 tsunami struck the coast of Kenya (the facts appear in an endnote). A series of acrylic paintings with a thick golden border depict the young hippo calling, "Mama," as he swims alongside his parent in calm waters, nibbles on grass and cuddles next to her under the stars. But soon the frame turns to a violet blue that echoes the color of a tumultuous wave, which soon overtakes the spreads. Parent and child become separated; the mother calls, "Baby?", her offspring cries, "Mama?" each facing away from the other. Subsequent pages reveal the young hippo making it to shore and ultimately to his new home in an animal sanctuary. There he spies a giant tortoise and, apparently recognizes a kindred spirit, exclaims, "
Mama!!!" The two bond and a concluding image shows them snuggled up together under a starry sky, as an apparition of a smiling mother hippo looks on. Giving this account a more emotional interpretation than does
Owen & Mzee (reviewed below), Winter reassuringly portrays how friendship can ease a devastating loss. All ages.
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Pre-Grade 3 Winter used true stories to address difficult topics in
September Roses (Farrar, 2004) and
The Librarian of Basra (Harcourt, 2005). Here, she tackles the tsunami in a narrative consisting of two repeated words: mama and baby. A hippo and his mother are shown enjoying a swim when gigantic waves pull them apart. They call out plaintively for one another, until the baby is alone in the deep waters of a full spread. After washing ashore, he is taken to a refuge, where he bonds with a 130-year-old tortoise (according to the endnote); the dialogue bubble reads mama. Winter's signature acrylics turn from choppy, deep blues to placid turquoise, and the ratio of sky to water returns to a normal balance. It is hard to predict how the book will affect youngsters who are anxious about water or separation. The pitching of the topic to a preschool audience without more explanation is questionable. Not only will the design lead to dismay as adults discern, too late, what the book is really about, but the lack of narrative makes the situation seem typical rather than unique and results in oversimplification of a complex relationship. Explore this subject instead through Isabella and Craig Hatkoff and Paula Kahumbu's sensitively structured
Owen & Mzee (Scholastic, 2006), see p. 111.
Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
