Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Little Hippo can't wait to grow up. Everyone in his family is bigger and older than he is. All of the animals who live nearby, from old Crocodile to Elephant, are MUCH bigger than Little Hippo. Little Hippo can't even walk underneath the trees or through the grasses without feeling incredibly small. And then one day, Little Hippo gains a new perspective. He sees a tiny beetle who is stuck on his back and gently rolls him over. When the beetle's family thanks him and calls him "Big Hippo," Little Hippo feels incredibly empowered by the praise and his deed. When he shares his success, his family dubs him "Big Little Hippo," and he enjoys a wonderful feeling of contentedness. This sweet story contains a certain amount of predictability and repetition, which young children will appreciate, and Little Hippo is quite adorable, with expressive eyes and a joyful smile after his good deed. Fine black ink lines add texture and contrast to the predominantly green, brown, and yellow tones used in the book. VERDICT A great selection to share with young children to show them that they are "bigger" than they believe and that their actions, big and small, do matter.-Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, Hillsborough, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Compared to his family and other animals such as Elephant and Giraffe, Little Hippo is the smallest creature around (or so he thinks)--and he doesn't like it. But when Little Hippo helps a tiny bug, he's delighted to discover the deed makes him "feel just the right size." Gorbachev's emotive ink and watercolor illustrations make it easy to empathize with "Big Little Hippo. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A little hippo makes a big difference.Little Hippo is smaller than everyone in his family, and he's smaller than all of the other nearby animals, too. He's not happy about this and isn't comforted by his mother's assurance that he will be big one day, too. Then he happens upon a tiny beetle that is flipped over on its back and sets it right. "Thank you Big Hippo!" the baby beetle's family calls out, and Little Hippo rejoices that someone's called him big. He runs past all of the other animals whose largeness had made him feel small, proclaiming, "I'm big now!" until he reaches his family and tells them about his bighearted good deed. Proud Mommy hippo praises her little one and dubs him Big Little Hippo, much to his delight. Gorbachev's watercolor-and-ink illustrations are largely redundant of his well-structured text's events, but they make excellent use of scale and perspective to underscore whether (Big) Little Hippo feels small or big from one spread to the next. The story has just the right amount of predictability and repetition to engage young readers and encourage participation. Sure to be a big hit at storytime for little ones. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
