Hippo Goes Bananas!

by Marjorie Dennis Murray, Kevin O'Malley (Illustrator)

One day, Hippo acts very strange. He bellows, spins in circles, and crashes into a tree. All of his friends think he has gone bananas! But has he? Or does he just have a bad toothache? Kevin O’Malley’s bright marker and colored-pencil illustrations bring to life the animals of the Serengeti as Cuckoo Bird, Monkey, Leopard, Giraffe, Zebra, and Elephant try to figure out how to help their distraught friend. Their off-the-cuff solution brings this cheerful picture book to a humorous conclusion.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Humor, Africa, Birds

34 pages, Board Book

First published March 15, 2006

Reviews

[Krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Rated by my son**

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor hippo has a toothache, which is making him grump and bellow and spin in circles. Then he crashes into a tree which awakens Cuckoo Bird. Without first finding out what’s wrong, Cuckoo Bird speeds off to tell Monkey that Hippo is going bananas! As they go to each subsequent animal, the story gets worse and worse ... until Hippo is causing flooding on the Serengeti. “We’ve got to stop him!” And the animals charge in to help ... without really knowing what’s wrong.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

One day hippo acts very strange. The other animals think he has gone bananas. And the story grows with each retelling.

This is a humorous story. We talked about effective communication (hippo and his friends don't communicate very effectively), gossip, and exaggeration as we read this.

[Prashant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good sleep time book for kids.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A kid apparently couldn't stop thinking about this book from the last time they read it. I thought I should check it out, but it was only ok for me.

[B.C. Stephan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars rounded up to 5
Great story with fun alliterations! As each animal spreads the word about what's going on with Hippo, the story or "rumor" gets bigger and bigger.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but not memorable

[Lottie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute children’s book with a creative ending.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hippopotamus with a toothache goes bananas.

[Erika]

Cute Story!

Very cute story about how gossip can spread. A bit strange how the page orientation changes toward the end, but it could just be that I'm reading on a tablet.

[Rose Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable

Poor Hippo has a tooth ache. It's so nice that all of the animals in the jungle want to help.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

a story about a Hippo.

Wonderful illustrations for this story. Also that it had included all of Hippo’s friends who are trying to help him.

[Kevin Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story, interesting

Everyone added there bit, I found a little more expansion on that fact or the characters addressing it could have added to the story.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marjorie Dennis Murray, Hippo Goes Bananas! (Marshall Cavendish, 2006)

Full disclosure: This book was provided to me free of charge by Amazon Vine.

You remember the Telephone game you played as a kid, where everyone sits in a circle? The first person whispers something to the second, and then it goes around the circle, and it's never the same by the time it gets back to the source? Hippo Goes Bananas! is a humorous take on the subject, where a cuckoo witnessing a hippo with a toothache runs off to tell Monkey, who runs off to tell Jaguar, who... you get the idea. Cuckoo's misinterpretation is embellished on with each stop, until Hippo blundering into a tree and knocking it over evolves into Hippo destroying the entire Serengeti, and then everyone coming together and solving the actual problem, once they figure out what's actually going on. Cute, though the bean hasn't quite warmed to it yet; hoping it will grow on him, because the illustrations are a real gem. ***

[Grampy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hippo Goes Bananas" by Marjorie Dennis Murray is a cute story for the "read me a story" aged child. The premise is simple: Hippo wakes up with a toothache. In his agony he bumps into a tree. This gets the attention of another animal, who hurries to tell yet another animal. As is too often the case, the story gets exaggerated each time it is retold... and it gets retold a lot of times.

The morale of the story revolves around not inventing details to make gossip more interesting. The children will readily see the folly of adding to a story, and perhaps come to understand that 1) lying is wrong, and 2) gossiping is wrong.

I recommend this for the library of kids from age 2 on up, until they can read for themselves. Once they move on to Chapter Books they likely will lose interest in this, but that still leaves a period of several years during which "Hippo Goes Bananas" will be entertaining and educational.

[Suzanne Manners · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with my library cohort, Mary, to children at Mineola's annual nature fest. When Hippo begins bellowing over a toothache, the other jungle animals interpret his reaction to the pain as out-of-control craziness. They begin to worry that his behavior will lead to a catastrophe for everyone. They decide that pushing him over the cliff into the river will help him snap out of it and facilitate a return to normalcy. The head-over-heels tumble results in knocking the sore tooth out of his mouth and solving the problem of his toothache. However this rough remedy leaves Hippo with a new painful situation ... a terrible headache (probably a concussion).

Mary made the story very exciting for the little ones with her expressive moans and groans.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hippo wakes up with a major toothache. He is in so much pain he ran into a tree, which woke the cuckoo bird. Scared, the bird asked the hippo what was wrong, but he couldn't respond. The bird flew to get help because he thought the hippo was mad, but as more animals were coming to help the story was getting bigger. When they all returned to help the hippo, they had to roll him down the cliff. His tooth fell out, and they all realized what the problem really was. This would be a good example to use in the classroom when talking about fabricating stories with extra details to make them sound more extreme. Obviously not all of that happened to the hippo, and the problem could have been solved easier had each animal not make more details up.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hippo suffers through his toothache and attempts to tell the other jungle animals about his pain. A communication glitch similiar to the game of telephone ensues and the story that unwinds is hysterical. Preschoolers will be howling with laughter over the antics of the jungle animals. An excellent option for jungle storytime!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hippo woke up with a toothache and moaned and bellowed and crashed into a tree. He woke up the cuckoo bird who raced through the jungle telling all the animals “Hippo is going bananas!” This starts a frenzy of running and leaping and rumors galore. The funny story by Marjoire Murray and illustrations by Kevin O’Malley will leave readers in stitches.

[Brenda G Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute Story, Colorful Illustrations

This such a cute story with colorful illustrations which enhance the storyline. This story shows how one tale can turn into another when repeated. The premise of this story, for me, is that sometimes friends can say, or do, things which can harm you unintentionally, but a true friend is always there for you in the end.

[Mikaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so hoping that this book would have a clever ending. But it didn't. My 6 year old summed it up for me when at the end of the book he said, "That's it?" Cute illustrations, but not clever enough for me to want to read it again.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book chosen by my daughter to be read. Hippo has a sore tooth and he starts to moan and roll about and as each animal tells about hippo, he gets wilder all the time, they finally push him into the river and he loses his tooth and complains of a headache.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, cummulative tale illustrating the principal of the game "telephone" as each animal passes along the word that "Hippo has gone bananas!" while poor hippo suffers from a toothache. A humorous tale and a humorous cure await hippo!

[Guadalupe Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the story, I think this book is appropriate for young students as well as older students. The book focuses on how a message can get misinformed when multiple individuals are "passing the word."

[Julie Slayton]

Hippo has a toothache! What is he going to do? Well, he is going to attempt to tell other animals about his pain. This ends up turning into a big game of telephone. I would use this in the classroom for younger students to predict what is going to happen.

[Tacurtin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a pattern book. The way the animals solve the problem is a bit violent, and leaves the hippo with another problem, however it may appeal to the sense of humor of young people. The story does introduce a couple of idioms without being overwhelming on idioms.

[Rebekah Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was not what I expected based on the title. It was interesting to see how the story grew just like the game telephone. It was a funny story and just goes to show you that you can't listen to gossip.

[Bari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hippo Goes Bananas is a great choice for story time ages 18 months to 3 years. Repetitive text and familiar animals keep the children interested and allows them to "chime in" while the story is being read.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Hippo has a tooth ache and soon all the animals find out and panic.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The actual meaning of the story is a little advanced for a young toddler, but the images of the animals are GREAT, and the "rhythm" of the story is so much fun...