Reviews: (by author)

Landstrom, Lena. The New Hippos. Trans. Joan Sandin. Stockholm/New York: R&S Books (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux), 2003. $15. ISBN 91-29-65823-3.

I'm a fan of Landstrom, several of whose books are reviewed elsewhere on this site, and of R&S Books which has been bringing to the English-speaking market some of Scandinavia's best children's books. At the American Library Assoc. convention here in San Diego in January, I stopped by their booth and was delighted to see they're now bringing to our market fine books from other countries as well.

Landstrom with her husband writes the very funny Boo and Baa books. Here, working on her own, she brings the same tongue-in-cheek charm to a story about hippos, in softly-colored but very funny paintings. When a mother hippo and her son show up on the riverbank inhabited by many other hippos, how will they be treated? How will the young hippo so impress his peers that they overcome their doubts about interlopers and begin to emulate him? How will mother hippo prove herself as she tries to build a hut for herself and her son? They ingratiate themselves so well that when they disappear, the established hippos begin to worry. Happily mother and son return with a bundle full of delicious fruit. Established now themselves, how will they react when…more new hippos come?
Sweden is experiencing unprecedented numbers of immigrants entering their formerly notably homogenous society. Beyond its considerable merit as a delightful picturebook, The New Hippos subtly tells a timely lesson about strangers who can become indispensable members of a community.

Highly recommended
Alida Allison, January 2004

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