Look, There's a Hippopotamus in the Playground, Eating Cake

by Hazel Edwards

Starting school can be scary, but nothing is impossible when you have a hippopotamus who lives on your roof, and eats cake! So, a little girl takes her hippopotamus along to school, and together they face those first-day-at-school experiences, meeting the teacher, eating lunch on your own and making new friends.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1993

About the author

Hazel is a readaholic, author and Reading Ambassador.

She’s best known for the children’s classic ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’ which inspired ' Hippo! Hippo! the, Musical'' produced by Garry Ginivan which toured nationally.

January 2026 , The Guardian newspaper listed 'There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake' in the top 50 Australian picture books. End January 2026 voting in the Guardian poll will close for the top picture book.
2026 will celebrate the 46th year of this picture book.

Her unconventional memoir 'Not Just a Piece of Cake-Being an Author' (AUDIBLE and from www.ligatu _re as part of UnTapped project of historical Australian literature. ).
'Wasted?' a YA/adult cross over #Clific novel is her latest, set around the Garbage Patches, mid ocean where Asylum Seekers trade bio fuel to form a new State and gain visas. In dsylexi font from ReadHowYouWant , on audio and being adapted for screen.
Adult murder mystery 'Celebrant Sleuth: I do...or die' with asexual sleuth Quinn is currently on AUDIBLE ,read by the author from print & e versions. 'Wed,Then Dead on The Ghan' is a mini-sequel , commissioned by ABC audio and currently being adapted as a screenplay.
Hazel mentors her 'Hazelnuts' and helps people craft their ancestry in her popular workshops ‘Writing a Non- Boring Family History’, and 'Complete Your Book in a Year'.
'Fake I.D.' a family history mystery YA novel was translated into Tamil by Cre-A in Chennai.

Hazel’s 2001 Antarctic expedition inspired the young adult eco-thriller 'Antarctica's Frozen Chosen', picture book ‘Antarctic Dad’ (reprinted by Kipas) and the memoir, ‘Antarctic Writer on Ice’. Reading about Antarctica is a hobby.
Recently AmbaPress.com.au re-issued updated script collections of Hazel's class plays including 'Grief and Loss in Schools' , 'Issues' and 'Workplays' as well as 'Kaleidoscope of Ideas for Gifted students'. Authorpreneurship' and 'Writing for Young People' have been popular.

Hazel writes a new story for each of her four grandsons each birthday. 'Go Go Gecko' is latest and is being translated.

Reviews

[Linda]

I just love Hazel Edwards Hippo series - dealing with the little adventures of a young girl's life.

This book takes us to the first day of school - and really, who wouldn't want to take their enormous, brave and clever imaginary hippo to the first day of school. I would have if I'd had enough brains.

The layout of words and 'real' world on the left page and the hippo imaginary world on the right page is a consistent style through all the books in this series that I've always thought clever and appealing in it's physical separation of real/imaginary worlds.

[Jill Smith]

Children learn that they can get through anything with the help of knowing they have a friend on the roof eating cake.

For over twenty years Hazel Edwards and Deborah Niland have created these stories to help children with any insecurity.

I love all of Hazel's Hippopotamus books.

This one will join others I've sent my sister to share with her grandchildren. That warms my heart.

[Samantha Fleming]

I didn't get anything in this book, apart from the fact that its a sequal fr0m "There's a Hippopotamus in the Playground Eating Cake". Story was crap and pictures were worse

[The Book Squirrel]

This is a short picture book in the Hippopotamus Eating Cake series about a girl with starting-school jitters. Her hippo helps her through the first day, and then she doesn't need him anymore (so he stays at home eating cake).

[Gaby]

This story is fun, like all the books in this series. I like to read this one to children starting school because they often know at least one of the books in the series. The illustrations on the left side of the page is reality and the pictures on the right is the imagined state where the hippopotamus is at school as well.

The story tells of getting ready for school - a big plus is that the girl (and the hippo) packs their own bags, the children draw, play in the playground, eat their lunch and sit on the mat to listen to a story.

It suggests that the little girl is scared of the big kids, which is why she brings her hippo to school. It also briefly talks about the classroom environment. It would be a good way to introduce making new friends.

A lovely book to read in the first few weeks of school.