Christian Holidays - Christmas, General & Miscellaneous Holidays, Music - Songs & Songbooks

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Name: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
Author: John Rox
ISBN: 9780060529420

by John Rox, Bruce Whatley

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Overview

Christmas is coming, and one little girl wants nothing more than a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy. But will Santa Claus and her parents make her Christmas wish come true? As shown in his best-selling titles The Night Before Christmas and Here Comes Santa Claus, no one can portray the holidays better than Bruce Whatley; and he doesit again with I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas.

The song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" was written in 1950 by John Rox and became a nationwide hit in 1953 when ten-year-old Oklahoma native Gayla Peevey sang the song as a way to raise money for the Oklahoma City Zoo's first hippopotamus. In December of that year the city received Matilda the hippo for Christmas.

An illustrated version of the song about a child who wants a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Synopsis

Christmas is coming, and one little girl wants nothing more than a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy. But will Santa Claus and her parents make her Christmas wish come true? As shown in his best-selling titles The Night Before Christmas and Here Comes Santa Claus, no one can portray the holidays better than Bruce Whatley; and he doesit again with I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas.

Publishers Weekly

John Rox's song lyrics for I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, illus. by Bruce Whatley, just go to show that the best gifts do come in big packages. Whatley's artwork captures the imagination of one girl's big dream as she pictures Santa delivering her present through the front door and harnessing her hefty pet to his sled as they fly through the night. Music and lyrics appear on the last page. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, John Rox

Bruce Whatley is one of Australia’s best-loved and most-respected author–illustrators. His most recent books include the enormously successful and award-winning Diary of a Wombat, written by Jackie French, and its companion volume, The Secret World of Wombats, also illustrated by Bruce. The best selling team have also collaborated on Pete the Sheep, and most recently, Josephine Wants to Dance. Two of Bruce’s previous books, The Ugliest Dog in the World and Tails from Grandad’s Attic, were named as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in 1993 and 1996 respectively. Looking for Crabs was shortlisted by the Children’s Book Council in 1993 and Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase was named an Honour Book by the Children’s Book Council in 1998. Bruce has illustrated forty books to date, including a number that he has co-written with Rosie Smith. Their latest collaboration was Little White Dogs Can’t Jump.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature

Even the Christmas cookies and the snowman look like hippos in this children's song turned into a picture book. If you know the illustrator's work (Looking for Crabs, Wait, No Paint, Diary of a Wombat), then you can already imagine the delightful blend of realistic people's faces and cartoon-like hippos, crocks, kangaroos (wrapped in Christmas paper), and a Christmas tree decorated with fruit and vegetables. "Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian." The looks on the parents' faces is just how I would feel if my daughter's wish for a hippopotamus was granted by Santa. This little girl is convinced that no other pet will do, "No kangaroos or duckbill platypuses, I only like hippopotamuses." The last page is the best with the refrain "and hippopotamuses like me too" which shows her riding off in Santa's sleigh pulled by a flying hippo. If you can play an instrument then use the lyrics and musical score in the back matter to sing this with little people with a sense of humor. Otherwise, just read it aloud and enjoy the fun. 2005, HarperCollins, and Ages 3 to 6.
—Sheilah Egan

Kirkus Reviews

The words to a Christmas song from the 1950s serve as the text for this exploration of a most unusual Christmas gift. An unnamed little girl in pink pajamas is the first-person narrator, explaining in detail why she wants a hippopotamus as her present. Various views of the hippo are shown in a slightly confusing, nonlinear time sequence, but then why would time proceed in a straightforward fashion with a hippo in the house? Santa is shown pushing the hippo through the door, and the following pages show the little girl caring for her hippo, unwrapping it as a Christmas package (a different packaging treatment is shown on the cover), and then flying off with Santa as the hippo pulls the sleigh. Though the little girl and the words to the song are rather ordinary, the lively, lavender hippo in Whatley's illustrations is a delightful creature, with a big, pink bow on its head and expressive, bulging eyes. (In fact, that hippo deserves a name and a story of its own.) The music and song lyrics are included in the final spread. (Picture book. 3-6)