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Una mama para owen
Owen, el pequeño hipopótamo, y su mamá eran grandes amigos. Les encantaba jugar a esconderse en las orillas del río Sabaki, en África. Eso fue antes de que llegara el tsunami y se llevara todo lo que rodeaba a Owen. Pero cuando paró la lluvia, Owen se hizo amigo de Mzee, una tortuga macho marrón y gris. Jugaba con él, se acurrucaba junto a él, y decidió que Mzee sería su mejor amigo y su nueva mamá. Inspirado en una historia real acaecida tras el tsunami de 2004. La escritora Marion Dane Bauer y el ilustrador John Butler han reado esta conmovedora obra sobre la curación, la adopción y el renacimiento, con espléndidas lustraciones y montones de amor.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 27, 2007
301 people want to read
About the author
Marion Dane Bauer
172 books186 followersMarion Dane Bauer is the author of more than one hundred books for young people, ranging from novelty and picture books through early readers, both fiction and nonfiction, books on writing, and middle-grade and young-adult novels. She has won numerous awards, including several Minnesota Book Awards, a Jane Addams Peace Association Award for RAIN OF FIRE, an American Library Association Newbery Honor Award for ON MY HONOR, a number of state children's choice awards and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota for the body of her work.
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
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INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
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Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
-------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
-------------------------------------
Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
November 4, 2019
Ack, another book with a playful and tiny font! Oh why??
Other than that, nice and pretty book. It does leave out human intervention completely, but has a brief author's note to explain what really happened. Owen and Mzee are the subject of several books for children; you might want to read a few of them together.
Other than that, nice and pretty book. It does leave out human intervention completely, but has a brief author's note to explain what really happened. Owen and Mzee are the subject of several books for children; you might want to read a few of them together.
February 16, 2012
"A Mama for Owen" is inspired by the true account of an orphaned hippo, Owen, and his friend Mzee who helped him to recover from the loss of his mother and family after a Tsunami swept his hippo pod out into the sea.
Bauer's story does not go into all the details of Owen's rescue but still manages to capture the remarkable bond that Owen shares with the old tortoise, Mzee. The illustrations are soft, gentle, and spark those warm-fuzzy feelings that readers love.
Bauer's story does not go into all the details of Owen's rescue but still manages to capture the remarkable bond that Owen shares with the old tortoise, Mzee. The illustrations are soft, gentle, and spark those warm-fuzzy feelings that readers love.
August 7, 2018
This is a really well done book about a hippo. Based on a true story.
August 8, 2023
A charming book based upon a true story. Apparently, a group of hippos was washed out to sea off the coast of Africa and a baby only about a year old was washed back to shore. The baby essentially adopted a big tortoise as it's mother after that and the tortoise seemed to be fine with the connection. I really enjoyed this tale and the art fit it very well.
June 10, 2010
Bauer, Marion Dane., and John Butler. A Mama for Owen. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2007. Print.
This was a story about an orphaned hippopotamus that gets adopted by a tortoise. The story itself can be viewed in many ways as helping children deal with complicated issues such as death, divorce, and adoption. It also can show them that even though blood does not connect you, you can still love someone who is very different than themselves.
This was a story about an orphaned hippopotamus that gets adopted by a tortoise. The story itself can be viewed in many ways as helping children deal with complicated issues such as death, divorce, and adoption. It also can show them that even though blood does not connect you, you can still love someone who is very different than themselves.
December 7, 2008
This is a great story with amazing illustrations! This true story was written very well and handles the difficult topic of losing a parent with sensitivity and still keeps the kids engaged. The words are soothing and repetitive and even though the book is short, it tells a compelling story. This is a terrific book to read with children.
March 9, 2021
Hay mi corazón, este libro es recomendación de mi mamá que es maestra de preescolar y ahora que está por jubilarme decidió darme una lista de títulos infantiles que cree debo leer y me sorprende que libros así de pequeños pueden llegar más de lo que uno espera.
October 25, 2017
A Mama for Owen is a book written by Marion Dane Bauer and it is illustrated by John Butler. This book would be considered a non-fiction book because the book is based off the Tsunami that happened on the Sabaki River in Africa. This book is about a hippopotamus that lived with his family on the banks of the Sabaki River. Once the Tsunami came through, it washed away all of Owens family, and he was left with no one around but a tortoise. He realized though they were different types of animals, they had a lot in common. Owen then took up with the tortoise, and realized the tortoise was a lot like his mother. The problem of the story was Owen was left alone with no mother, and he made a family with the new people around him. Even though his missed his mother, he found someone to love that was a lot like her. I think children of all ages could read this book and like the story, but I think older children would be able to read it better and understand the meaning of adoption as applied in this story. The language in this book was very easy to read, but there was hidden message within the book that I think older children would be able to understand better. This book was very interesting and I think the illustrations really pull you into the book. The text and illustrations go hand in hand, and they paint a beautiful picture of Africa. The culture was not represented through people in this book, but I think the illustrations did a great job of representing Africa. I feel as if the cultural group is generalized in this book though, because the book never addresses the story is taking place on the banks of the Sabaki river.
November 27, 2017
I love how this book is based on a true story of a real hippo that bonded with a tortoise after the hippo lost his family. I loved the repetition used throughout the story, especially at the part where the rain was falling and the water was rising. This repetition gave me a clear image of what was happening. I love the softness of the colors used in the illustrations.
January 5, 2019
Read to me by my son. A very sweet true story of a hippo named Owen who loses his mother and bonds with a 130-year-old giant tortoise. Art is beautiful and the story is sad but sweet.
May 8, 2020
Knowing this is a true story makes it an emotional read.
My children love to hear the story, but still find it incredibly sad.
My children love to hear the story, but still find it incredibly sad.
August 26, 2011
This was the book selected by my story time counterpart at the main library for today's story time.
The good aspects of this book were the repetitive nature of the story which the kids gravitate toward. The problem this -based on a true story- story created for me was the general dreary town. I tried to read happiness into the story but.....
SPOILER!!!!
OWENS MOTHER IS GONE! I swear the kids looked at me like I was the most horrible person in the world when I said that Owen was swept out to sea and then a tsunami wave sent him back to shore alone. One of the mothers actually walked up and cuddled her children because the story was so sad.
Thank goodness Owen makes Mzee's acquaintance which saves things a little bit but at the end of it all a grayish brown or brownish gray turtle is not a replacement for a grayish brown or brownish gray loving hippo mother.
It was like a walt disney story hour, killing off parents in the first few pages...Stay tuned next week we hug porcupines!
The good aspects of this book were the repetitive nature of the story which the kids gravitate toward. The problem this -based on a true story- story created for me was the general dreary town. I tried to read happiness into the story but.....
SPOILER!!!!
OWENS MOTHER IS GONE! I swear the kids looked at me like I was the most horrible person in the world when I said that Owen was swept out to sea and then a tsunami wave sent him back to shore alone. One of the mothers actually walked up and cuddled her children because the story was so sad.
Thank goodness Owen makes Mzee's acquaintance which saves things a little bit but at the end of it all a grayish brown or brownish gray turtle is not a replacement for a grayish brown or brownish gray loving hippo mother.
It was like a walt disney story hour, killing off parents in the first few pages...Stay tuned next week we hug porcupines!
September 17, 2011
A beautiful story that reminds us that even when tragedy strikes there is a light at the end of the tunnel and family can come in many forms. Anyone who has experienced a great loss will feel comforted by this heart-warming tale of Owen and his new friend Mzee. The soft pastels and warm color of the illustrations are like a cozy blanket and show the Kenyan wildlife and landscape beautifully.
October 3, 2016
This book portrays a real-life situation in the form of a children's book. A young hippo loses his beloved mother, and has to overcome the pain of her loss. Eventually, he meets a turtle and learns to love her as a mother. I chose this book because it opens a discussion platform for real life scenarios that children face.
March 1, 2021
Una historia triste pero también enternecedora sobre Owen y su nueva mamá Mzee. Me recordó muchísimo a uno de mis libros favoritos cuando era pequeña que era Chiquitín. Está basado en una historia real.
July 27, 2023
Healing and adoption are obviously the big themes here, at least to adult readers. However, this book could also be just the thing for survivors of forced emigration, political oppression, racial injustice, gun violence, war... and so much more.
No surprise, for a picture book authored by Marion Dane Bauer, the language throughout is exquisite: Spare, and landing easily on young ears, yet heartfelt and powerfully authentic.
Another big plus for this book is the use of animals as stand-ins for humans. Usually I'm not a big fan of this, although sometimes it works quite well in kids' books. By contrast, "A Mama for Owen" provides one of the finest portrayals of animal characters that I've ever seen in a book for children.
Finally, the illustrations by John Butler are just lovely.
Writing-and-illustrating this magnificent book especially for vulnerable readers... Marion and John, you done good! FIVE STAR good.
No surprise, for a picture book authored by Marion Dane Bauer, the language throughout is exquisite: Spare, and landing easily on young ears, yet heartfelt and powerfully authentic.
Another big plus for this book is the use of animals as stand-ins for humans. Usually I'm not a big fan of this, although sometimes it works quite well in kids' books. By contrast, "A Mama for Owen" provides one of the finest portrayals of animal characters that I've ever seen in a book for children.
Finally, the illustrations by John Butler are just lovely.
Writing-and-illustrating this magnificent book especially for vulnerable readers... Marion and John, you done good! FIVE STAR good.
November 13, 2018
Summary:
Owen is a young joyful hippo that lives with hsi mother and his father. They sleep together, they eat together and they play together... until one day. The place where Owen lives had a bad flood that swept away all that was familiar to him. He was alone and scared so he went to a tortoise name Mzee to find comfort. The two very soon became best of friends and Owen found a new "mother" to take care of him. This story is based off of a true story of a young hippo that went through a tough time and was rescued and brought to a new home where he then found Mzee.
Evaluation:
I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 due to the story line being interesting and able to catch the attention and hearts of all the readers that read it.
Teaching Element:
There are so many things that can be taught with this book including repetition, effects of natural disasters, the jobs of rescue teams, and making connections. Personally, I would use this book to teach students how to make connections. I would teach about making connections before reading this book and then I would read it out loud to them and the students would have to make connections about how Mzee did certain tasks with his mother like curling up to her to fall asleep and when he go to his new home he recognized something that was brown like his mother and curled up on the ground. The then went up to the brown thing and curled up next to it and fell right to sleep. This is just one of the many connections that the students could make with this book.
Owen is a young joyful hippo that lives with hsi mother and his father. They sleep together, they eat together and they play together... until one day. The place where Owen lives had a bad flood that swept away all that was familiar to him. He was alone and scared so he went to a tortoise name Mzee to find comfort. The two very soon became best of friends and Owen found a new "mother" to take care of him. This story is based off of a true story of a young hippo that went through a tough time and was rescued and brought to a new home where he then found Mzee.
Evaluation:
I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 due to the story line being interesting and able to catch the attention and hearts of all the readers that read it.
Teaching Element:
There are so many things that can be taught with this book including repetition, effects of natural disasters, the jobs of rescue teams, and making connections. Personally, I would use this book to teach students how to make connections. I would teach about making connections before reading this book and then I would read it out loud to them and the students would have to make connections about how Mzee did certain tasks with his mother like curling up to her to fall asleep and when he go to his new home he recognized something that was brown like his mother and curled up on the ground. The then went up to the brown thing and curled up next to it and fell right to sleep. This is just one of the many connections that the students could make with this book.
February 2, 2021
I really liked this version of the Owen and Mzee story. While we do romanticize the animals' relationship, scientists can't really say for sure whether Mzee didn't enjoy Owen's company. As a solitary reptile, Mzee most likely just tolerated Owen's presence, and Owen clearly saw hippo similarities in Mzee which made him an attractive mother figure. Owen was a vulnerable and traumatized child, and Mzee's company definitely helped save his life. Their story is nonetheless very heartwarming, regardless of the criticisms of the interspecies "friendship." The picture book is brief, and limits the story to the animals, not covering the human interaction that rescued Owen. I think this simplifies the story for young readers, provides an introduction to their story, and helps to put readers into Owen's perspective as a fictional picture book.
June 12, 2017
Text set
A Mama for Owen is a story about a baby Hippo named Owen who lost his mom during a Tsunami. Owen spends the duration of the story searching for his mom but instead meets a tortoise named Mzee who becomes Owen’s adoption mother.
This story is about friendship, adoption, and acceptance. I think A Mama for Owen is a great addition to my adversity text set because it reaches out to students who have lost a parent, and students going through the adoption/foster care process. It also teaches the importance of friendship and acceptance, Owen finds a mother figure in the tortoise named Mzee even though they are different species, and despite Mzee is a boy. The two put their differences aside and are there for one another, which is a valuable lesson for children to learn.
A Mama for Owen is a story about a baby Hippo named Owen who lost his mom during a Tsunami. Owen spends the duration of the story searching for his mom but instead meets a tortoise named Mzee who becomes Owen’s adoption mother.
This story is about friendship, adoption, and acceptance. I think A Mama for Owen is a great addition to my adversity text set because it reaches out to students who have lost a parent, and students going through the adoption/foster care process. It also teaches the importance of friendship and acceptance, Owen finds a mother figure in the tortoise named Mzee even though they are different species, and despite Mzee is a boy. The two put their differences aside and are there for one another, which is a valuable lesson for children to learn.
February 7, 2022
3.5 stars- this is a narrative nonfiction of the story of Owen and Mzee. It is beautifully written and has gorgeous illustrations. The authors word choice had me in my feelings. I took some stars away because the storyline doesn't fully fit the real story. However I think it would be great to read both and compare and contrast with kids.
September 28, 2023
This is a true story of a hippo named Owen who lost his mother in a natural disaster and bonded with an older tortoise named Mzee.
All the activities he would have done with his mother he then did with Mzee.
It’s fascinating that this is a true story and impresses me how adaptable animals and people are after a big loss.
In finding someone to love and carrying on.
All the activities he would have done with his mother he then did with Mzee.
It’s fascinating that this is a true story and impresses me how adaptable animals and people are after a big loss.
In finding someone to love and carrying on.
November 15, 2024
Muy tierna, sin llegar a ser edulcorada. Los adultos se ponen ojipláticos al escuchar lo que provoca la crecida del río, y que Mzee es una tortuga macho...pero el público infantil se sentirá muy acogido por la calidez de las ilustraciones y el vaivén repetitivo del texto.
Y cuando te enteras que es una historia real, tu también te quedas ojiplático 👀
Y cuando te enteras que es una historia real, tu también te quedas ojiplático 👀
February 6, 2014
Booklist starred (December 15, 2006 (Vol. 103, No. 8))
cpg1252 Worlds away from Jeanette Winter's retelling, Mama0 (2006), in which the nearly wordless text and stark design offered youngsters little buffer against Owen's terrifying separation from his mother, Bauer's picture-book version closely matches its narrative and visual tones to its target audience. A rhythmic, lulling narrative smooths the barbed edges of the disaster ("The rain fell and it fell and it fell. The Sabaki River rose and it rose and it rose"), and Butler's feathery illustrations, featuring smiling, doe-eyed animals rendered in soft tones of butter, rose, and lavender, hint at the sunny outcome even during the story's troubling opening scenes. Composition choices, too, spin the trauma appropriately for the very young; for instance, even as Bauer acknowledges, post-tsunami, that Owen's mother was "lost" and Owen himself was "alone in the sea," Butler's close-up picture avoids the overwhelming, long-distance perspective of a tiny figure dwarfed by the vast ocean. Apart from a font cluttered with ornamentation, the book's large format and attractive presentation invites sharing--even with sensitive young listeners.
Horn Book (Fall 2007)
A tsunami sweeps young hippo Owen out to sea, separating him from his mother. Washed ashore, he meets elderly tortoise Mzee, who becomes his mother substitute and friend. With this fictionalized account, readers are introduced to the true story of Owen and Mzee. The soft-hued acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations featuring smiling animals lean toward the cutesy (but not distractingly so).
Kirkus Reviews (March 1, 2007)
The story of the baby hippopotamus named Owen who adopted Mzee, a century-old tortoise, as his mother, caught the world's imagination after the tsunami of 2004. Here, veteran author Bauer makes a sentimentalized version of the tale. Owen loves to play hide-and-seek with his mama, but the tsunami washes away all he knows and all those who know him. When he sees the giant tortoise, which seems to be the same color as his mama, Owen snuggles down next to him. He follows Mzee, swims, eats and plays hide-and-seek with him. Butler's acrylics-and-colored-pencil pictures are awash in pale and shadowy or rosy and golden tones, and the pictures give the animals soft and human expressions without quite anthropomorphizing them. The story is dramatized more fully, although with almost no words, in Jeanette Winter's Mama (2006), and told with photographs and a fine narrative text in Owen & Mzee (2006), by Craig Hatkoff and his daughter Isabella. (Picture book. 5-7)
Library Media Connection (August/September 2007)
Based on a true story, this delightful book tells of an unusual animal friendship. Owen, a baby hippo, lives with his mother by the Sabaki River in Africa. When the river floods, the hippos are washed into the sea and Owen is separated from his mother. When a tsunami wave brings Owen back to shore, he cannot find his mother. He sees a brownish gray shape and thinking it is his mother he lays down, exhausted, beside the animal. The animal turns out to be an elderly tortoise named Mzee who patiently lets the young hippo sleep beside him. Owen and Mzee continue their friendship with the two playing hide- and-seek in the grass, eating together, sleeping together, and more, just as Owen and his hippo mother used to do. A sweet appealing story with a reassuring ending, this book works well for a library and would also do nicely for parent and child sharing. The repeated activities bring a full-circle sense of well-being to the tale. The pictures are soft and realistically drawn, with colors that suitably reflect the African setting and events of the story. This is a must-see for libraries serving younger children. Recommended. Betsy Ruffin, Librarian, Cleburne (Texas) Intermediate
School Library Journal (February 1, 2007)
PreS-Gr 1-The true story of the African baby hippo that was separated from his mother during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and then bonded with a giant tortoise is one that has endeared itself to many. This version is a bit too endearing. Bauer's symmetrical text gives the basic facts, compressing details in order to draw clear parallels between the hippo's activities with his mother and then with the tortoise. The author uses repetitive phrasing to convey the severity of the situation: "The rain fell and it fell and it fell. The Sabaki River rose and it rose and it rose." While this is a time-honored narrative device, when combined with Butler's soft-focus, anthropomorphic artwork, the effect is cloying and monotonous. The scenes, rendered in acrylic paint and colored pencils in a gray/brown/pale-lavender palette, feature animals that smile continuously, even during the storm. For strong visuals and a conceptually satisfying account, stick with the striking photographs and sensitive narrative provided in Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Paula Kahumbu's Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (2006) and its sequel, Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship (2007, both Scholastic), reviewed in this issue.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
cpg1252 Worlds away from Jeanette Winter's retelling, Mama0 (2006), in which the nearly wordless text and stark design offered youngsters little buffer against Owen's terrifying separation from his mother, Bauer's picture-book version closely matches its narrative and visual tones to its target audience. A rhythmic, lulling narrative smooths the barbed edges of the disaster ("The rain fell and it fell and it fell. The Sabaki River rose and it rose and it rose"), and Butler's feathery illustrations, featuring smiling, doe-eyed animals rendered in soft tones of butter, rose, and lavender, hint at the sunny outcome even during the story's troubling opening scenes. Composition choices, too, spin the trauma appropriately for the very young; for instance, even as Bauer acknowledges, post-tsunami, that Owen's mother was "lost" and Owen himself was "alone in the sea," Butler's close-up picture avoids the overwhelming, long-distance perspective of a tiny figure dwarfed by the vast ocean. Apart from a font cluttered with ornamentation, the book's large format and attractive presentation invites sharing--even with sensitive young listeners.
Horn Book (Fall 2007)
A tsunami sweeps young hippo Owen out to sea, separating him from his mother. Washed ashore, he meets elderly tortoise Mzee, who becomes his mother substitute and friend. With this fictionalized account, readers are introduced to the true story of Owen and Mzee. The soft-hued acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations featuring smiling animals lean toward the cutesy (but not distractingly so).
Kirkus Reviews (March 1, 2007)
The story of the baby hippopotamus named Owen who adopted Mzee, a century-old tortoise, as his mother, caught the world's imagination after the tsunami of 2004. Here, veteran author Bauer makes a sentimentalized version of the tale. Owen loves to play hide-and-seek with his mama, but the tsunami washes away all he knows and all those who know him. When he sees the giant tortoise, which seems to be the same color as his mama, Owen snuggles down next to him. He follows Mzee, swims, eats and plays hide-and-seek with him. Butler's acrylics-and-colored-pencil pictures are awash in pale and shadowy or rosy and golden tones, and the pictures give the animals soft and human expressions without quite anthropomorphizing them. The story is dramatized more fully, although with almost no words, in Jeanette Winter's Mama (2006), and told with photographs and a fine narrative text in Owen & Mzee (2006), by Craig Hatkoff and his daughter Isabella. (Picture book. 5-7)
Library Media Connection (August/September 2007)
Based on a true story, this delightful book tells of an unusual animal friendship. Owen, a baby hippo, lives with his mother by the Sabaki River in Africa. When the river floods, the hippos are washed into the sea and Owen is separated from his mother. When a tsunami wave brings Owen back to shore, he cannot find his mother. He sees a brownish gray shape and thinking it is his mother he lays down, exhausted, beside the animal. The animal turns out to be an elderly tortoise named Mzee who patiently lets the young hippo sleep beside him. Owen and Mzee continue their friendship with the two playing hide- and-seek in the grass, eating together, sleeping together, and more, just as Owen and his hippo mother used to do. A sweet appealing story with a reassuring ending, this book works well for a library and would also do nicely for parent and child sharing. The repeated activities bring a full-circle sense of well-being to the tale. The pictures are soft and realistically drawn, with colors that suitably reflect the African setting and events of the story. This is a must-see for libraries serving younger children. Recommended. Betsy Ruffin, Librarian, Cleburne (Texas) Intermediate
School Library Journal (February 1, 2007)
PreS-Gr 1-The true story of the African baby hippo that was separated from his mother during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and then bonded with a giant tortoise is one that has endeared itself to many. This version is a bit too endearing. Bauer's symmetrical text gives the basic facts, compressing details in order to draw clear parallels between the hippo's activities with his mother and then with the tortoise. The author uses repetitive phrasing to convey the severity of the situation: "The rain fell and it fell and it fell. The Sabaki River rose and it rose and it rose." While this is a time-honored narrative device, when combined with Butler's soft-focus, anthropomorphic artwork, the effect is cloying and monotonous. The scenes, rendered in acrylic paint and colored pencils in a gray/brown/pale-lavender palette, feature animals that smile continuously, even during the storm. For strong visuals and a conceptually satisfying account, stick with the striking photographs and sensitive narrative provided in Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Paula Kahumbu's Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (2006) and its sequel, Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship (2007, both Scholastic), reviewed in this issue.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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February 2, 2020
The lyrical text is lifts the beauty, tragedy, and eventual resolution from an, “Awww, how sweet” story to one with layers of heart, ecology, and insight to the ways natural instincts mirror human emotions.
April 7, 2021
Las ilustraciones son hermosas, pero los padres deben saber que hay un momento muy triste en que Owen pierde a su mamá en un tsunami.
Está basado en una historia verdadera, y podría ser agradable a niños mayores o a los que son menos sensibles.
Está basado en una historia verdadera, y podría ser agradable a niños mayores o a los que son menos sensibles.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2017
It is so sweet to read stories about different animals finding comfort and friendship in each other..krb 6/25/17
July 24, 2017
Sweet story, beautiful pictures.
December 8, 2017
Beautiful story of Owen the hippo and Mzee the tortoise and the family bond they form.
October 26, 2018
Sweet, beautiful book.
May 19, 2019
porque es precioso (ay lo dejo)
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