Finding a suitable sort of self-expression can be a challenge. Sometimes what seems so right for one individual is so very, very wrong for everyone around her. Take Hilda Hippo, for example. There's nothing Hilda loves more than dancing. But whether she's tangoing, square dancing, boogying to disco, doing the flamenco, rumba, or samba, Hilda makes a lot of noise: KA-BUMP! KA-BUMP!

CRASH! CRASH! SMASH!

THUMPITY-BUMP! THUMPITY-BUMP!

BOOM! BANG! BASH! Her friends in the jungle try to subtly guide Hilda down other creative paths, but knitting and singing just don't do it for our hefty heroine. Is there anything else Hilda can do that won't make bananas fall from the trees and clouds of dust fill the air?

Rollicking rhymes and dynamic, jungle-hued illustrations make Karma Wilson (Bear Snores On, A Frog in the Bog) and Suzanne Watts' picture book collaboration a must for every foot-stomping, tutu-swishing reader. Irresistible! (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter


From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2--Not since Disney's Fantasia has there been a hippo with so much rhythm and movement. Oblivious to the effects of her heavy footfalls, Hilda dances her way through this picture book, tearing up the jungle and having a grand time. While her frustrated neighbors wish she would find an activity a little less jarring, the creature just can't seem to stop. After brief forays into knitting and singing, Hilda and the animals finally come up with a clever compromise. Watts illustrates this cartoon jungle with a palette of vibrant tropical colors and creates bold and humorous images that further energize an already active text. Told in rhyme with plenty of onomatopoeia, this delightfully noisy story is nonstop fun.--Julie Roach, Malden Public Library, MA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Swisha-swisha Clap! Clap! Jump, Jump, Jump! "Hilda must be dancing!" Hilda Hippo loves to dance! But there's just one problem. When Hilda dances, it sounds like this: Ka-bump! Ka-bump! Crash! Crash! Crash! Thumpity-bump! Thumpity-bump! Boom! Bang! Bash! The other animals beg her to find a quieter hobby. Knitting? Singing? For Hilda, nothing else will do. What could possible be as fun as dancing?


Card catalog description
Hilda Hippo tries other, quieter, activities when her jungle friends are disturbed by her dancing, but nothing else makes her happy until Water Buffalo suggests swimming and she finds a new way to express herself.


About the Author
Karma Wilson is the author of the best-sellers Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More, both illustrated by Jane Chapman, and One Day in the Middle of the Bog, illustrated by Joan Rankin. She lives just outside of beautiful Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
A toe-tapping hippo discovers the bliss of water ballet in this rollicking picture book by Karma Wilson (author of Bear Snores On) and illustrator Suzanne Watts.

Decked out in extravagant costumes -- including a flowery leotard, a ruffled flamenco dress, and disco flare pants -- Hilda is creating a jungle-sized ruckus with her dancing. With hippo-strength "thumpity-bump" and "swisha-swisha clap" moves, Hilda shakes her groove thing, but unfortunately, the other animals have serious issues with all the noise. After monkeys and rhinos suggest she try something less disruptive (like knitting or singing), the water buffaloes propose water ballet as a possible answer. So Hilda puts on a two-piece suit and dives in, jubilantly discovering that aquatic dance satisfies her artistic streak and keeps the jungle peacefully intact and her pals cheering for encores.

Accompanied by Watts's laugh-out-loud, bubbly illustrations of African animal scenes, Wilson's delightful rhymes celebrate a heroine with style, spunk, and artistic vision to spare. With heart-shaped movie-star sunglasses and a headdress straight out of a Carmen Miranda film, this lovable hippo will inspire kids to embrace their talents and respect others, too. Watching Hilda "ker-plop" and "plunk" in the water will make young readers want to dive right in. Matt Warner

ANNOTATION

None of her jungle friends can find Hilda Hippo a quieter, less disruptive replacement for dancing, her favorite hobby, until Water Buffalo suggests an activity that allows Hilda to express her dance creativity in a new way.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Hilda Hippo loves to dance! But there's just one problem. When Hilda dances, it sounds like this:
KA-BUMP! KA-BUMP!
CRASH! CRASH! SMASH!
THUMPITY-BUMP! THUMPITY-BUMP!
BOOM! BANG! BASH!

The other animals beg her to find a quieter hobby. Knitting? Singing? For Hilda, nothing else will do. What could possibly be as fun as dancing?

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

When Hilda Hippo dances, the other jungle animals cringe. For "while she danced in utter bliss,/ it sounded quite a lot like this:/ "Ka-bump! Ka-bump!/ Crash! Crash! Smash!" The earth shakes, she tramples plants and kicks up clouds of dust. The animals suggest Hilda try knitting or singing instead, but it's not until the water buffalo recommends swimming that Hilda proclaims, "Now, here's a hobby/ I adore.../ Water ballet dancing!" Although Hilda wears plenty of extravagant dance costumes, Wilson's (Bear Snores On) descriptions sometimes strain: "While Hilda danced flamenco/ in her favorite pair of heels,/ bananas fell in gooey heaps,/ shaken from their peels!" Watts's illustrations create a fantasy jungle full of bright flowers and cartoon animals, but Hilda's pink Homer Simpson-style muzzle maintains an almost uniform expression. The ending scene of Hilda performing water ballet ("Swisha-swisha clap! Clap!") provides a satisfying solution for all-readers and fellow jungle inhabitants alike. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

Hilda Hippo loved to dance. Dressed in her favorite leotard, she practiced every day. She twisted, turned, leaped and tangoed, oh-so-joyously. As she blissfully moved her body to her own beat, the jungle floor would shake and quake. Her jungle friends would shout, "Hilda must be dancing." They tried to be patient with her and then they began to make suggestions for other activities. The monkeys suggested knitting, but she got tangled in the yarn. The rhinos thought that singing would provide a nice change until they discovered that Hilda could not carry a tune. Finally the desperate water buffaloes recommended swimming. A jubilant Hilda discovered that she could dance in the water. Soon she was swirling and twirling and splashing with glee. Delighted with the solution, her jungle friends joyfully cheered her on. Brightly colored illustrations feature a huge, exuberant hippo and her loving friends. Her attempts at various types of dances may have young readers on their feet keeping up with the beat of the rhyming text. 2004, Margaret K McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, Ages 3 to 7.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Not since Disney's Fantasia has there been a hippo with so much rhythm and movement. Oblivious to the effects of her heavy footfalls, Hilda dances her way through this picture book, tearing up the jungle and having a grand time. While her frustrated neighbors wish she would find an activity a little less jarring, the creature just can't seem to stop. After brief forays into knitting and singing, Hilda and the animals finally come up with a clever compromise. Watts illustrates this cartoon jungle with a palette of vibrant tropical colors and creates bold and humorous images that further energize an already active text. Told in rhyme with plenty of onomatopoeia, this delightfully noisy story is nonstop fun.-Julie Roach, Malden Public Library, MA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews