The Blushful Hippopotamus

By Chris Raschka

It’s not easy being a blushful hippopotamus Baby hippo Roosevelt tries hard to ride a bike, to count, and to remember the right names of things. When he falls down, forgets a number, or calls a buffalo a “buggalo,” Roosevelt gets embarrassed. His cheeks turn red, and his sister teases him, saying he’s a blushful hippopotamus. Thankfully, Roosevelt has Lombard, an egret friend with a sense of perspective. Lombard reminds Roosevelt that though he may be blushful, he is also hopeful, thoughtful, and wonderful in many ways—and his sister’s words don’t mean a thing.

This fixed-layout ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book, features read-along narration.
   

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781453296097

Chris Raschka

Chris Raschka is the creator of many distinguished and award-winning books for children. He has received two Caldecott Medals—one for The Hello, Goodbye Window, written by Norton Juster, and one for his own A Ball for Daisy. He also received a Caldecott Honor for Yo! Yes? Chris Raschka was the US nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2012 and 2016 and has been awarded a New York Times Best Illustrated Book citation five times. He lives in New York City with his family.

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Reviews for The Blushful Hippopotamus

[ktankers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would read this book to kids to ask them the difference between affirmations and insults. This is also a good book to ask kids about what implied impossibilities they hear from people.

[kradish-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Big sister teases Roosevelt and looks too big to ignore, but a little bit of support from his friend shows her teasing is not so big at all.

[lnfranklin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent!! To teach the importance of building self esteem with a true friend. This book can be used in the classroom to deter bullies.

[Peter Walsh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Four stars because I think the big sister was mean.

[Sophie Jain · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I didn't like it because my little brother and me are exactly the same. They are just attempting to write rhyming words.

[vwhitt_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a quirky book written by Raschka to show the importance of friendship. Roosevelt isn’t the most graceful hippo, and his sister will be the first to tell you that. Unfortunately every time Roosevelt’s sister points out one of his imperfections (in front of his friend), he blushes. This blushing embarrasses Roosevelt almost as much as being clumsy. Thankfully his friend, Lombard, helps build Roosevelt’s self esteem back up. Every time the sister puts him down, Lombard tells Roosevelt something nice to counteract. In the end, the sister’s insults are no longer bothering Roosevelt. This book shows how important friends are. Everyone should have a friend like Lombard who, instead of laughing along with Roosevelt’s sister, will make Roosevelt feel better. Raschka’s simple illustrations go along with the text wonderfully and add another layer to this story. This could be a good teaching tool to use in order to deter bullies from surfacing in a classroom. Details: This book was written to interest children in grades K-3 and is on a 1.7 reading level.