The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-One

Every Friday, I got to my daughter's school and I read books to some children who need a little help with their reading. Just before Christmas, my two little girls chose exactly the same book to read. Both of them shrieked with laughter as I read to them, and then both of them wanted to take the book home with them. This is the book that was so popular on that reading day.

The Hiccupotamus

Aaron Zenz

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 7

Marshall Cavendish, 2005, 978-0-7614-5622-3

   When you get the hiccups, you are often inclined to laugh at them. At first. Then they become rather annoying, and you do everything you can to get rid of them. Imagine what it would be like if you were a hippo who had the hiccups. In this story, you will meet one who is not only prone to hiccups, but his hiccups are also very violent. Every time this poor hippopotamus gets the hiccups, he ends up falling “upon his bottomus.”

   Unfortunately, his hiccups are not only a trial for him, but they are also a real nuisance for all the other animals. When he tries to say hello to the yellow elephant, the hippo’s hiccup startles her so much that she drops the cakes she is holding. Needless to say, she gets very angry, and she starts to chase the hippo.

   With the elephant in hot pursuit, the hippo comes across a centipede “pouring new cementipede.” One hic “by accidentipede,” and the elephant and the centipede end up face first in the cement.

   With its hilarious illustrations and its deliciously ridiculous rhyming text, this picture book will have young readers in floods of giggles. Be warned, this book is addictive and it may become necessary to hide it for a while.