How to Be a Happy Hippo

by Jonathan Shipton

Horace the hippo is sad because his father is always too busy to play, so Horace decides to build a trap to force him to play.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

I was born in Birmingham in 1948 but have spent most of my adult life in Wales where I now live with my partner Viv. I have five children and three grandchildren who keep me young and fill me with ideas and inspiration.
I have always loved books and survived my dysfunctional childhood by burying myself in escapist fiction: Enid Blyton, Rider Haggard, G.A. Henty; Sherlock Holmes and Biggles were early addictions.

Although I have written stories and poetry all my life I started writing 'seriously' in 1989 when my youngest son started at play- group and I suddenly found myself with two glorious hours of uninterrupted time. It was now or never. After a pile of rejection slips I finally got my first picture book - In the Night - accepted in 1991.

I love the discipline of writing picture books; the ebb and flow between author and illustrator, the rhythm of the words. A successful book for me is one that satisfies both the child and their adult reader. It should be able to take the weight of being read over and over again without driving everyone mad!

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book with fun illustrations of hippos playing in the mud, but it's really sad that Horace has to booby-trap his dad to get him to play with him!

[Sproghammeren (Christina) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nice illustrations but extremely stereotypical message: Dad is never around to play or have fun and mom is in the comforting role. Horace never really becomes a happy hippo before he boobietraps his dad into spending a whole Day together.
If I were a dad Reading this to my little child, I would be annoyed!

[Ashlin Edmisten · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a cute book, the message was a little confusing. You have to capture your dad? Is he going to do the same thing tomorrow? It felt like this book was encouraging bad behavior... on the part of dad and Harold.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a really sad book about a little hippo who misses his dad, and doesn’t get to spend much time with him because he is always busy. In the end the baby hippo makes it so his dad has to spend time with him, and it ends with them both saying they had a wonderful day.

[Georgina Peachey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations which told the story of a hippo that had everything he could want but wasn’t happy because he missed his dad. Great story for parents and children to read together, to remind them of the importance of spending time together.