Puss Reboots: Blog: January 2007: But Not the Hippopotamus

Recent posts

Month in review

Reviews:
Bad Cat by Jim Edgar
Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb
(Invasion of) The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
Cork Boat by John Pollack
The Cylons' Secret by Craig Shaw Gardner
Fighting Angel by Pearl S. Buck
The Floppy Friends Go to the Beach by Nancy E. Krulik
Ghost Girl by Torey Hayden
The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa
How Long Has This Been Going On? by Ethan Mordden
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
McTeague by Frank Norris
Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton
Mr. Bounce by Roger Hargreaves
Mr. Funny by Roger Hargreaves
Mr. Noisy by Roger Hargreaves
Mr. Small by Roger Hargreaves
The Museum at Purgatory by Nick Bantock
Not Before Sundown by Johanna Sinisalo
Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber
Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam
Sagittarius is Bleeding by Peter David
The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra
Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Wilcox Quilts by Robert J. Schleck

Miscellaneous
Derrick For Dinner
Indoor Picnic
What's Up Doc?

Months in review

December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

Rating System

5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish

Reading Challenges

Canadian Book Challenge: 2024-2025

Beat the Backlist 2024

Ozathon: 12/2023-01/2025

Artwork
Chicken Prints
Paintings and Postcards

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But Not the Hippopotamus: 01/20/07

But Not the Hippopotamus

But Not the Hippopotamus is one of three Sandra Boynton books Sean received as a Hanukah present back in 2005. Now that Sean is beginning to read, these books have come back into his rotation of "current reads."

But Not the Hippopotamus rings true to anyone who has felt excluded. On each page a pair of friends are doing something fun while the hippopotamus looks on. The story is told in verse with the title of the book ending each stanza. For this hippopotamus, he does eventually join the group of friends but not the armadillo.

The illustrations are cute and poignant. Boynton captures the growing sadness of the hippopotamus perfectly. Each page his frown gets a little longer and his eyes a little sadder. When at last the punchline comes the eyes pop open first to surprise and then to glee.