Elmer and the Hippos Hardcover – Picture Book, August 1, 2010

This was a great new Elmer story to read with the grandkids. The lesson is good, about treating others how you would want to be treated and how working together allows everyone to have more free time.

I love the Elmer series! It is new to me but I am crazy about Elmer! I am a an kindergarten teacher and I love that Elmer is different and that he is a star among the elephants. I love that he is friends with all of the animals and accepted by all. Good lessons for my students!

Elmer's adventures really are a must for youngsters. Delightful pictures and a simple understandable storyline make the Elmer series of books a real treasure

My two-year-old son absolutely adores Elmer, the patchwork elephant and when we had to travel recently, I got him a bunch of the books in Kindle format to distract him on the plane ride. Elmer and the Hippos was a great addition to the series. It's one of the more complicated Elmer stories (there is a separate subseries for younger readers that focuses on basic themes like colors, counting, weather, etc.) and deals with the themes of sharing, helping others and overcoming prejudices. The artwork is beautiful and my son loved the story.The Hippos' river dries up and they come to join the elephants. Although the elephants are initially unhappy about the Hippos, with Elmer's help, they elephants agree to help the Hippos and they all work together to solve the problem. Good lessons in a nice format with pretty art. An overall winner.

Thanks

Elmer, the patchwork elephant, was having a friendly get together with a couple of friends, Lion and Tiger, when three REALLY mad elephants came stomping up to talk to him. Well, those elephants' eyes were so wide they looked like they were going to pop out any minute. They told Elmer that the hippos had decided to come live with them in their river and they were going to have none of that. Elmer, who was kind and gentle, said that he would go talk to them. The hippos, who were all taking a dip in the elephants' river claimed, "we know we're not wanted here, but our river has dried up and we have to have a river." Mmmmm! That was a problem so Elmer agreed to talk to the elephants.The elephants, who looked very uncomfortable about the whole situation, agreed to let the hippos stay. There certainly wasn't going to be much room in the river with both elephants and hippos in it. The elephants were simply not into sharing with goofy looking hippos. When Elmer went to look at the hippos' river, it was dry as a bone with nothing but rocks scattered along its bed. When he went to the cliffs he could see the real problem and a little bird told him that "The rocks fell and stopped the river." Everyone was going to have a lot of work ahead of them to move those rocks. Elmer even stopped to ask his cousin, Wilbur (who looked like a checkered black and white floor), for help. Would the hippos be able to clear the rocks all by themselves or would the elephants chip in and help them with the job so they could get their river back?This is a wonderful story about how Elmer and his elephant friends set aside their prejudices to help some hippos in need. Most children, not unlike adults, have prejudices that they need to overcome in order to learn to cooperate and deal with others. Sharing is also a difficult concept to learn and combined with prejudice, it creates an even more difficult problem. Of course charming, gentle Elmer, accompanied by his black-and-white checkered cousin, Wilbur, offer up a perfect solution to this sort of problem in the form of a cooperative effort. The artwork is colorful and very jungle-fun appealing. This would be a perfect book to read and discuss during circle or story time. For that matter, it is one of those perfect stories to read any time!

This story of cooperation teaches an easy lesson. More hands gets the work done quicker. God info for a small fry.

My preschooler loved it. The bright colors held his interest and he guessed that the elephants would work to help the hippos solve a mutal problem.

Nice artist and interesting easy story for kids

This is a wonderful story with a moral. Helping others makes you feel good and they, in turn, will help you. The book is colourful and with a simple text just right for my second language English pupils. I like the size of the book because everyone can see the pictures while sitting in a circle. I know that David McKee has written more stories about Elmer, and they vary a bit in the enjoyment and storyline, but this one is really good.

A very nice tale about cooperation and empathy. My 4 year son love this Character and all the tales about him.

One of our favourite Elmer books. We also especially liked the very first Elmer book, and Elmer and the rainbow, as these clearly have a deeper meaning, which comes very well across throughout the story. (We liked the Elmer and Rose books not as much.)

My son loves this series of books. The wording is easy and stories are great.