Spanish author
Daniel Nesquens has written a goofy short chapter book about a talking hippo's quest to return home to his jungle in Africa. Mr. H, the hippopotamus, asks a young zoo visitor to open his cage so he can leave his unfulfilling life in captivity.
The path to the jungle is an urban one filled with traffic, a mysteriously acquired suit and tie, fun in the park, and dining in a fancy pizza restaurant. The hippo and the plot meander (in a good, Syd Hoff kind of way) and the story comes to an open-ended/existential ending.
The confident, airy and stylish paintings by
Luciano Lozano are reminiscent of Roger Duvoisin and Miroslav Šašek, with a little James Marshall in there too, and add to the breezy feel of the story.
jpeg of illustration from MR. H from
Mr. Lozano's wonderful blog ISBN-13: 9780802854407Publisher: Eerdmans, William B. Publishing CompanyPublication date: 2/1/2015Pages: 61Age range: 7 - 10 YearsThank you to Eerdmans for the review copy.