When Hippo was Hairy – Book Review

By Nidhi Arora

When Hippo was Hairy and other tales from Africa is unlike any other book that I have ever read. I LOVE folk tales and must have read thousands of them so far. But this book clearly stands out.

First, the stories are told in a very nice way. They are simple, not long winded, and still witty and funny. They are about many animals and each story tells us something about the nature of that animal. I think this is a much better way to understand animals than an academic book. For example, crocodiles will eat anything, giraffes help other animals, and so on.

The book’s illustrations (I looked up the name especially – Rod Clement) are OUTSTANDING. I wish I could share some of them. They really bring each story alive.

I liked the stories about elephants best. Mostly because we think of elephants as these nice, majestic creatures. But in these stories, we see elephants in a new light.

I also liked that after each story, they tell us a little bit about the animal. There is a map indicating the habitat of that animal, so its very easy to see where each animal lives. We had Africa in my son’s syllabus recently, so I was able to plot the area to the origin of Nile, the hilly areas. It was a lot of fun remembering the topographical map of Africa and correlating it to each habitat map.

There is no improvement I can think of for the book. Whether you are a nature lover or not, whether you love folk tales or not, this book will bring Africa, stories, and animals really alive for you. I dropped everything to finish reading this book.
Recommended for ages 8 and above.