Hippos Can't Swim: and other fun facts

by Laura Lyn DiSiena, Hannah Eliot, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Overview

Did you know that hippos can’t swim? This hilarious book is full of fun facts about all sorts of animals, from sleepy ants to jellyfish that glow!

Did you know that a zebra’s stripes are as unique as a human’s fingerprints?
How about that ants take about 250 naps per day?
Or that some jellyfish can glow—and that’s called bioluminescence?

Colorful, humorous illustrations accompany tons of cool facts about animals of all shapes, sizes, speeds, and species in this lively book that makes nonfiction fun!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442493247
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Series:	Did You Know?
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	669,719
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD780L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Laura Lyn DiSiena is an art director who loves to write, design, and make crafty things. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her artsy husband and two naughty cats. You can visit them online at OhWellHello.com.

Hannah Eliot is a children’s book editor who lives in Vermont. Her favorite activities include editing (of course), writing, drawing, and spending time with her family!

As a seasoned professional in the animation industry, Pete Oswald’s credits include traditional animation, CG, and stop motion. Pete’s work as an illustrator and designer includes Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Madagascar 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, ParaNorman, and Hotel Transylvania. His short film, The Story of Walls (2009), earned him an Annie Award nomination. Pete and his family live in Santa Monica, California.

Editorial Reviews

12/16/2013
Animal-based humor and goofy cartoons with the feel of 1950s animation fill the pages of this entertaining and lightly informational book. Bug-eyed turquoise jellyfish with bean-shaped heads and squiggly arms (some wear glasses, hair bows, and hats) “float with the currents of the ocean,” while on the opposite page, a nonthreatening-looking purple shark is paralyzed with fear over a long-lashed jellyfish’s bioluminescence. Elsewhere, readers learn that raccoons are “attracted to shiny objects” and ants “take about 250 naps throughout the day.” While the overall vibe is more Hanna-Barbera than National Geographic, there’s a good amount of animal factoids amid the silliness. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2014-01-22
Smooth segues provide the cement for this high-wattage, if less-than-carefully illustrated, set of animal facts. Oswald's cartoon images of popeyed, well-caffeinated creatures crank up the visual energy to frantic levels. Unfortunately, at the outset, they contradict the author's correct observation that hippos' noses are placed on the tops of their heads. In another misstep, both illustration and a thought balloon misleadingly suggest that bats can recognize a passing 747 with echolocation (their range is much, much smaller). For the most part, though, DiSiena and Eliot's revelations are both accurate and just as detailed as they need to be to keep and hold attention. They glide from the hippo's titular lack of buoyancy (they walk along river bottoms) to the surprising fleetness of sea turtles. From there, it's on to jellyfish, which don't actively swim but do flash with bioluminescence—just like fireflies. So it goes, until the parade of facts circles neatly back around to blue whales ("actually the largest animals that have ever lived") and a closing assurance that "unlike hippos…blue whales sure can SWIM!" Though the authors supply no supportive references or leads to further information, they do tuck in an additional "Fun Fact" about each of the 14 animals at the end. A companion, Chickens Don't Fly and Other Fun Facts, publishes simultaneously. The pictures are a weak link, but younger readers and listeners will happily take this quick dive into the sea of random knowledge. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews