The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Landstrom, Lena

The New Hippos

32 pp. | Farrar/R&S | April, 2003 | Trade ISBN 91-29-65823-3 $$15.00

(4) K-3 Translated by Joan Sandin. A hippo mama and her little one find it's not easy being new to the riverside community in which they've decided to set up house. They know they've been accepted when, after a trip to pick fruit, their neighbors make them promise to "always tell someone before they leave the riverbank." Illustrations in muted colors render the stolid hippos with goggly eyes; they add a comic element to this slightly preachy but oddly appealing story.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute