You Look Ridiculous, Said the Rhinoceros to the Hippopotamus

This book was on my son's reading list. I loved this book! It's an easy read for a second grader and he understood the moral of the story immediately. It's the story of a hippopotamus who meets a rhinoceros who tells him he looks ridiculous because he doesn't have a horn. The poor hippopotamus suffered from a severe case of poor self-esteem and went around asking all the animals if they thought he looked ridiculous. Of course, each animal thought he most definitely did because he did not share that animal's special feature. In his dream, he gains all those features they had at once: a turtle's shell, a giraffe's neck, a rhino's horn, etc. He then realized he never looked more ridiculous in his life, and he wakes up happy to be himself. I enjoyed simple style, the elegant way the story leads the reader to understanding the moral at a child's level, and how the illustrations bring the story to life. This is a must read for every child and I'm glad it ended up on my son's reading list.

I discovered this book many years ago working in a Montessori primary school. The children LOVED this book. I learned it so well that I can now tell the story by heart. You Look Ridiculous is a testament to the importance of diversity and for accepting who we are. I recommend it highly.

A hippopotamus is wallowing very happily in her favorite mudhole until a snooty rhinoceros ambles along and tells her she looks ridiculous because she doesn't have a horn on her nose. So begins Bernard Waber's hilarious tale of an insecure hippo, who suffers from a severe inferiority complex until she realizes she's just fine the way she is, "a big, fat, wonderful hippopotamus". Waber is a great children's author and this book provides a message that any preschooler can relate to and understand, that everyone is special and unique in his or her own way. The ink and spatter-paint illustrations, in black, red and green, are fun to look at and help carry the story along. Kids from 3 to 6, and their parents too, will love this book.

This book is very easy for small children to understand. My kindergarten students loved it so well, they decided to act it out. It turned out great!