Hippos Are Huge!

Hippos may make you laugh, but watch out! An acclaimed naturalist takes an exuberant look at these massive, swift, and super dangerous animals.

What’s the deadliest animal in Africa? It’s not the lion or the crocodile—it’s the hippopotamus! Hippos have razor-sharp tusks, weigh as much as fifty men, and can run twenty-five miles per hour! Follow these hefty hulks as they glide underwater, play tug-of-war, swat balls of dung at one another, and nuzzle their young in the mud. Just don’t get too close—they could chomp you in two!

Jonathan London is an award-winning author of dozens of children’s books, including the popular Froggy series illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. He is well known for his compassion for—and commitment to—wildlife, and many of his books are about animals. He lives in Northern California.

Matthew Trueman is the illustrator of One Beetle Too Many by Kathryn Lasky. He spent his childhood in Italy, but returned to the United States to attend art school. Matthew Trueman lives near a river and likes to eat, two things he has in common with hippos, he says. He lives in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.