A hungry hippo who doesn't know how to share! (Greedy Grumpy Hippo - Stuart Trotter)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Greedy Grumpy Hippo - Stuart Trotter
Date:	27/08/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy read

Disadvantages: Might bore some through lack of words

This book is written by Stuart Trotter and tells the story of a hippo who decides to go on a picnic. She is a very greedy hippo and although she packs a huge amount of food in her picnic basket, she doesn't invite anyone because she plans to eat it all by herself. She goes in search for the perfect spot and on the way she meets a whole array of different animals who ask where she is going and what she is hiding. When she finally gets to her destination she opens her picnic basket and finds a very big surprise!

The book is illustrated very simply and is great for children aged around two years old. The pictures are very bold and all of the animals including the grumpy hippo, look friendly and appealing. Each page is bright and vibrant which holds the interest of any young reader or listener and there is also the added bonus of 'lift the flaps' on each page which encourages the involvement of the younger listener.

The text is very simple and there aren't very many words on each page which makes it ideal for any child that is just learning to read. They are written in rather big and easy to read type so even if you haven't got your glasses on you should be alright to read it!

The whole principal of this book is about learning how to share which is quite a n issue in our house at the moment. Noah is at that age where he will fight great guns to get a toy that he wants to play with and even if his little brother goes anywhere near any of his toys in the room regardless of whether he's playing with it or not, he will cause an uproar until he gets his way! This of course will not do and I thought this book was a good way of showing him that sharing can be fun and is a kind thing to do. I think this is a great thing to learn and hold on to as an adult because people can be pretty selfish these days so it's great to see a book that teaches this moral in such a simple way. It steers the reader into thinking that it's a lot more fun and sociable to share with others.

Noah really enjoyed this book and although he's still struggling with the sharing, I do believe that a little bit has gone into his brain and we will see results soon.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has issues with sharing or who is learning to read and wants a bit of interaction as they do it!

Summary: A lovely story:)