When I Woke Up I Was a Hippopotamus, written by Tom MacRae and illustrated by Ross Collins, is the charming story of a little boy who wakes up one morning feeling like a big hippopotamus who can hardly move and just doesn’t want to get out of bed. As the day goes on, he always seems to be a bit out of step with how he should be feeling in that moment, and each feeling is represented by a different animal or object.
This book is aimed at children 4 and up, and my son is almost 10, so you might wonder why I chose this book.** Well, the main reason is that it deals with identifying emotions, which is an area of difficulty for my son, who has high-functioning autism. Also, although he reads at a much higher level, he still enjoys picture books, especially at bedtime.
At first, I was disappointed because the concept of the boy seeing himself as a hippopotamus or a monkey was too abstract for Michael, even after we read the book a couple of times and talked about what was happening. He liked the illustrations and the rhyming text, but he was still confused by the idea that people weren’t actually seeing a robot or a rocket ship when they looked at the boy.
He did ask me to read him the book again the next day, however. Then he surprised me by coming to me later in the week and asking me if I remembered the “hippo book.” I said yes, and he proceeded to tell me that he had figured it out and that the different scenes were examples of metaphors. I asked, as I usually do in these situations, what that word meant, and he explained that a metaphor is “when you describe something by talking about something it is like.” They have apparently been learning about metaphors at school, and he remembered the book and realized that’s how the story was written.
So, in the end, this turned out to be a great choice for my son, helping him explore how different situations can make us feel, as well as reinforcing something he was learning at school. For those who aren’t in our unique situation, I think this would be an ideal book for any young child who is experiencing a lot of different emotions and isn’t sure how to respond when he or she is a bit out of sorts.
One thing I really loved about the book is how the boy’s mom and dad help him find a way to feel like himself again and to enjoy their activities together. It is so nice to see parents being shown giving direction and help to their kids and how that can turn a difficult day around.
**The 5 Minutes for Books team are happy to be a part of Scholastic’s Parent Circle. Each month, one of our reviewers will select a book from that month’s Scholastic Book Club flyers. I selected When I Woke Up I Was a Hippopotamus from March’s SeeSaw flyer.
We are happy to offer one of you a copy of this book (U.S. shipping only), as featured in the Scholastic book club flyer. Leave a comment to enter. We’ll announce the winner in our book column on March 12.
The winner of From Blah to Awe is #1 Zsa Zsa.
5 Minutes for Books staff book blogger Trish is glad her son still loves to cuddle up for a bedtime story. She blogs at In So Many Words.
My kids would like this.
This looks like a great children’s book.
Cute little book.
I would love to read this book to my pre-k class! Thank you so much for the giveaway!
My boys would like this. Thanks for the chance!
Looks like a great book! Would love to read it to my daughters. Thanks!
Thank you for such a cute giveaway. My 6 year old would love this book =)
what a cute book!
sounds like a great book.
would love this
nannypanpan@gmail.com
we love books and this one looks great! 🙂 Thanks for the review!! creedamy [at] yahoo [dot] com
would love to win!
My kids would love this!
Would love to add to our collection….
We’d love this book at our house. 🙂
this book would be perfect for my child. thank you
I would love to have a new story to read my son at night!
Always love new books!
Would love to add this to our children’s bedtime book rotation.
This book sounds like so much fun to read with my son!!
This sounds like a fantastic book that would hold their interest.
this looks like a cute story!!
What a wonderful book! My son would enjoy this! =)
I’m sure my daughter would love this book!
How nice, would like to win.
I’d love to win this! Thanks for the chance.
I am sure Gracie would love this book!!
My daughter loves animals, and she cant get enough to read, so she would love this book!
I bet my son would love this book!
This book would be great for my granddaughter. She is 5 and loves to read. Please enter me. Thanks!
I would love it for my kids
I would love to read this to my little princess!
I love reading with my two girls. It is a wonderful bonding experience for us at night!!
Please enter me.
Would like to win this book.
My kids would love this added to there nightly book routine.
would love to win this for my boys!
would love this for my kids!
I think my son would really enjoy this book!
I’d love to have this book for my grandkids when they visit.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
What a sweet little story.
I would love to read this with my little guys!
I would love to add this to our at home library. Thanks for the giveaway.
Would love to win this for my five year old nephew. He often doesn’t know how to control his emotions, letting them spill out all over. This might be a good book for him. 🙂
I read to my son all the time. He would enjoy this.
What child wouldn’t like this book!
My girls would love this!
This would be wonderful for my 4 yr old and my 2 yr old!
Wow! the book seems to be very interesting and your experience is awesome. I am definitely gonna try this with my son too! thanks for sharing.
My daughter would love this book…and so would I! Thank you for hosting!
This looks like a cute book.
this would be a good book for my kids
I am a teacher and a Mom and a kids book addict! I probably have thousands of kids books in my house and classroom. I’d love to add this to the ‘collection!’ ha!
My little ones would enjoy this story, thanks for a chance to win it!
This would be a great book to add to my collection for my in home daycare. It is crazy sometimes with the things that come up with kids.
My daughter would like this. My son would think it was “silly” which is the word of the week at our house.
My daughter would love this book!
Sounds like a great book for kids. I really enjoyed reading your review. Shame I can’t enter the giveaway though. I’m based in the UK.
This sounds great! Thanks for the chance!
What a cute story.
Great book cover! Our sons love to be read to; especially,
at bedtime. Many thanks for the opportunity to win this
lovely children’s book…
Cindi
I would love to read this to my 5 year old grandson…thanks for the chance!
I would love to win this for my boys!
My kids would enjoy this book.
This looks like a fun, cute story.
I’d love to win this for my kiddos!
My daughter is 5 and has a hard time understanding why she feels a certain way at times…she’ll start crying and say “I don’t know why I’m crying”. It’d be nice to have a book to help her understand why she feels certain ways at times. Thank you for the chance to win! 🙂
So nice, could read this to the grandchildren.
I think my children would really enjoy this!
Nice story for the family to read together.
Thanks for the chance to win! my son would like this book!
Good story to read to the little ones.
I’d love to win this for my granddaughters.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen a book with similar cover on amazon recently.
this would be a great book to add to our nightly bedtime rotation!