The Hippo-Not-Amus

by Tony Payne, Jan Payne

Portly grows tired of being a hippopotamus so he becomes a hipponoceros, a hippo-bat-onoceros, a hippo-ele-bat-onoceros, and a hippo-gir-ele-bat-onoceros!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Read to my son***

[The Campbell Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute enough, Linden (2.5) enjoyed it.

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story of trying on being someone else for size

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious. Young hippo wants to change who he is with little success at copying other animals. I love his ever-changing name for himself - Hippo-gir-ele-bat-ocerous or something. Loved it!

[Shelby Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I thought it was such a clever story about identity and children love the way it sounds. The hippo is bored of his lifestyle and wants to discover what it is like to be a different animal. He becomes a Rhino, a bat, an elephant, giraffe and so on by adding objects to his body to appear like that animal. As he moves through the animals he does not leave the other animal characteristics behind, but rather he just adds to them. When the other animals ask what he is, he responds with a crazy combo of names, made from all of the previous animals.
The theme is that you can not fake who you are, and it is okay to feel like you are "plain." All animals (or people) are made in unique ways to do unique things. In the end the Hippo returned home as a hippo because that is what he was created to be.
I think the book can be enjoyed and helpful from any time between the ages of 3-7. It is creative with pictures and young children love the repetition of words, but the theme is something that children ages 5-7 can understand.

[Maggie KutsBorg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This hippo is exploring identities outside his own species, and at the end of the day, he decides that (for now) being a hippo is a pretty good fit - but tomorrow, he might try being a monkey. Reading this made me think of children who are questioning their gender identity, and this hippo's parents (who support the experiment and welcome their child back in among the hippos with open arms) are a decent model for that scenario. Of course, not every reader (child or adult) will think of gender fluidity when they read this book - its message applies equally well to even more common questions of identity and personality, like personal style and taste. The idea is, we are all free to experiment and find out what - and who - we want to be.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Portly, the young hippo in The Hippo-NOT-amus, was tired of eating boring grass and wading in water all day. He decided to search throughout the land for what kind of animal he would really like to be. He meets a rhino and decides that horns would be just the perfect things to have, so he makes two horns from sharpened wood and ties them to his nose. But no matter what he did, they didn't look right! By the end of the story, he's a "hippo-gir-ele-bat-onoceros" who is very, very hungry for boring old grass. The illustrations are colorful and whimsical - sure to bring giggles from little ones who enjoy the absurd situations that Portly gets himself into (ages 3 - 7).

[Tracy Strahsburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a heart warming tale about a young hippopotamus whom one day decides that being a hippo isn't exciting enough and that he wants to be something different in his life. He waves goodbye to his parent sad goes on his way attempting, and failing, to be different animals he finds on this journey. I find that this book quickly reminds children, in a fun and lighthearted manner, why it is so important to be themselves. Often times young kids look at their peers and see all the unique things that they don't have or can't do and hippo-not-amus reminds them to look at what they do have and can do!

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Portly is bored with being a hippo. He's tired of standing in water up to his nose eating grass all day long. So, Portly goes through the jungle trying to become something else. He makes himself wooden horns like the rhino, big ears like the elephant, and stilts to walk like the giraffe. But what Portly really wants is to soak in the water and eat grass. So he returns home to the river... and imagines what it would be like to swing through the trees by his tail.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Portly grows tired of being a hippopotamus so he becomes a hipponoceros, a hippo-bat-onoceros, a hippo-ele-bat-onoceros, and a hippo-gir-ele-bat-onoceros!

What a cute book! Little Portly the hippo wants to be anything but, and some of his choices are also some of my sons favorite zoo animals so it was a lot of fun to turn the page and see what Portly would try next.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Portly is tired of being a hippo, eating boring grass and lounging in the water, so he takes a hike and discovers other types of animals. He soon tires of trying to be something he isn't and returns to Mom and Dad in the water, but his adventures may not be completely over.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was way too long for storytime. And while the idea is great, and I do think stories about kids trying to figure out who they are and knowing they'll always be welcomed and loved at home are good, this one didn't work for me. And the illustrations were too vivid. They actually hurt my eyes.

[Abby Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy
K - 4th grade reading level
This will forever be one of my favorite books! I love the lesson the young hippo learns. As well as the illustrations! This book makes me smile and laugh every time I read it. It's the perfect read aloud book!

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

jungle animals - hippo, rhino, bat, elephant, giraffe; being your own person, families

[Ms Julia's Kindergarten · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids absolutely LOVED this book and thought is was great!!

[John]

A very fun read and great for individualized read-alongs, versus storytimes.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute update of "It's Not Easy Being a Bunny". Fun.

[Jane]

new

[Heidi Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one.

[Alyse Liebovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great, humorous and colorful picture book about learning to love who you are, even if you have to try being other species to reach that level of appreciation.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

very fun book about experimenting with not being yourself! Great for storytime, silly with cute pictures. large pages. interesting water color and ink illustrations.

[Ben Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It also portrays a great message to children.

[Susan Featheringill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story for the kids! Some of the combination words are hard to read but a cute story.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a cute book. my 3 kids enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book to others.

[Rachel Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny story about a young hippopotamus who decides he doesn't want to be a hippopotamus anymore. He goes around meeting other animals and trying to be like them.
This is a good story to read to your students at any age, because it teaches that, at the end of the day, you are you and that's great. This book could also be used to let your students practice some creative writing. They could write about their own made up animals and even draw pictures of them if they wanted to.

[Sara Carmona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book about a hippo who tries to be all sorts of other animals.