In Which I Plead for Help
So one Christmas when I was about nine, there was a flood in my parents' garage. The pipes froze on Christmas Eve, and, though I had no knowledge of this, as I was dropped off at my grandparents' to open presents in blissful ignorance, they apparently spent half the night trying to fix the problem with little success. End of story: a bunch of stuff got flooded . . . including a box of my old picture books. Unfortunately, it wasn't discovered that the box had gotten wet until that summer, and by that time mold had grown over a lot of the books. We were able to save some, but not all.
Ever since, I've been on the lookout for certain of these books, the ones that I remember most fondly. And I've actually managed to find a lot of them at garage sales, used book stores, etc. But there's one book that has eluded me, because I can't remember its precise title. Neither can my parents. I've tried Amazon and Google to no avail. So, I'm pleading with the gods of the internet, in the hopes that someone who reads this blog might have a clue as to what I'm talking about.
The story is about a boy who had a hippo as a pet. He walks it around on a leash. Bu one day he ties him to a parking meter while he goes into a store. The hippo gets enticed by some sort of food and breaks free. The boy looks for him, asking a lot of people if they've seen his hippo, and eventually finds him in a pond. I think the hippo's name was Henry. (Or perhaps Humphrey, or something else with an H.)
I think this book would have been published between 1975-1985. Leaning towards saying it was a Scholastic paperback, or something similar. All this should be taken with a grain of salt, though, as we're dealing with 25-year-old memories at this point.
Anyway, if you happen to know this book, let me know. It's odd how often this gets under my skin. It's not a dire worry or anything, but it bugs me that I can't remember the title, because I remember liking the book a lot.
And, while we're on the subject, any books anyone else needs help remembering?
Ever since, I've been on the lookout for certain of these books, the ones that I remember most fondly. And I've actually managed to find a lot of them at garage sales, used book stores, etc. But there's one book that has eluded me, because I can't remember its precise title. Neither can my parents. I've tried Amazon and Google to no avail. So, I'm pleading with the gods of the internet, in the hopes that someone who reads this blog might have a clue as to what I'm talking about.
The story is about a boy who had a hippo as a pet. He walks it around on a leash. Bu one day he ties him to a parking meter while he goes into a store. The hippo gets enticed by some sort of food and breaks free. The boy looks for him, asking a lot of people if they've seen his hippo, and eventually finds him in a pond. I think the hippo's name was Henry. (Or perhaps Humphrey, or something else with an H.)
I think this book would have been published between 1975-1985. Leaning towards saying it was a Scholastic paperback, or something similar. All this should be taken with a grain of salt, though, as we're dealing with 25-year-old memories at this point.
Anyway, if you happen to know this book, let me know. It's odd how often this gets under my skin. It's not a dire worry or anything, but it bugs me that I can't remember the title, because I remember liking the book a lot.
And, while we're on the subject, any books anyone else needs help remembering?
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