How do you hide a hippo? by Rebecca Grant, Jedda Robaard (illus.)

This charming rhyming picture book featuring a ‘ginormous’ hippo and an adoring young child will be enjoyed by early readers. The lyrical rhyming text flows effortlessly off the tongue and will be a joy to read aloud at any time of the day including bedtime.

Throughout this engaging story, the child is desperate to hide her pet hippo from her mum and thinks of some clever and creative ways to do this.

In the kitchen sink?
He’d need to shrink.
Maybe the bin?
He won’t fit in.

 In with the ice?
That’s not very nice.
It’s zero degrees.
Harry will freeze!

 How do you hide a HIPPO?

The playful use of positional language including under, behind, outside, inside, among, offers a gentle introduction to spatial concepts for Early Years learners. The repeated question ‘How do you hide a HIPPO?’ at the end of each one or two?verse sequence, supports emerging pre?reading skills through predictable text patterns. The narrative’s continual use of questions creates further learning opportunities, encouraging young children to think, respond, and engage actively with the story. The soft pastel images skilfully extend and reflect the text, providing great visual appeal.

Themes: Hippos, Family, Rhyme, Questions, Spatial Concepts, Positioning Words.

Kathryn Beilby