The Hippo Hop - Hardcover

Loomis, Christine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395697026 ISBN 13: 9780395697023

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995

Synopsis

Gorillas, hippopotami, wildebeests, lemurs, moles, and other creatures great and small kick up their paws and let down their fur at an all-night party, recounted in a syncopated, rhyming story perfect for chanting aloud.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

As this festive rhyming picture book begins, a polite hippopotamus in tropical attire ushers readers into a jungle hot spot, a pink shack called the Hippo Hop. Behind its curtained doorway, smiling capybara waiters and a simian hostess hover expectantly. Before long, the Hop fills with "yaks on sax," elephants playing trombones, snakes shaking maracas, even a dancing wildebeest who clutches a rose in her teeth. Almost every animal wears round beatnik glasses, and every one of them is in motion. At evening's end, the music grows mellow, and the staff cleans up in preparation for the next night, when the fun begins all over again. Loomis (One Cow Coughs) names numerous types in her toe-tapping narrative, inviting readers to scan each crowded spread for the spotlighted animals ("Zebras get jamming/ On the ivory keys,/Monkeys bang congas/In the coconut trees"). Westcott (Round and Round Again) tones down her sometimes bubblegummy palette, using bright watercolors and twirly lines to intensify the visual rhythms. The jitterbug-jump art and text make a great pair-Loomis and Westcott really know how to throw a party. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-K?While this book has a lot going for it?a lively rhyming text accompanied by cut-loose, colorful watercolors?the overall thrust of the story is slim. Cartoon animals of all shapes and sizes, from snakes to tapirs and wildebeests to zebras, converge on the Hippo Hop, a swinging nightclub where the expansive stage is full of local talent and the aisles brim with dancing fools. "They tap,/they snap,/they clap?then stop./They leave by twos/From the Hippo Hop." Then, it's time to clean up and rest so that the music can begin once again. The bright double-page spreads and the rowdy, smiling beasts will attract young audiences. The text, on the other hand, merely sets the stage for the illustrations. Among other things, thoughtful readers will question whether it's really true that "The sound gets heat/When the tapirs tap."?Martha Topol, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0395697026
• ISBN 13: 9780395697023
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Westcott Nadine Bernard