The name Happy Hippo came about with 3 basic ideas: 1. a place named in a way which children were happy to go to; 2. phonological awareness (sounds of the words); 3. to bring about world issues awareness.

"A hippopotamus  (the Greek word means "river horse") spends most of the day in the water dozing. Hippo pods are led by dominant males, which can way 6,000 pounds or more! Females and most other males weigh between 3,500 and 4,00 pounds and all live about 40 years. At night hippos emerge and eat from 50 to 100 pounds of vegetation. Hippos can be testy and brutal when it comes to defending their territory and their young. Though they occasionally spar with crocodiles, a growing number of skirmishes are with humans. Hippos have trampled or gored over their boats, and bitten off their heads. Because hippos live in fresh water, they are "in the cross hairs of conflict", says biologist Rebecca Lewison, head of the World Conservation Union's hippo research group. "Fresh water is probably the most valuable and limited resource in Africa." Agricultural irrigation systems and other development have depleted hippos' -and other animals' - wetland, river and lake habitats. And the expansion of waterside farms, which hippos often raid, has increased the risk that the animals will tangle with people. Hippos once roamed over most of Africa except the Sahara. Today they can be found in 29 African countries. A decade ago there were about 160,000 hippos in Africa, but the population has dwindled to between 125,000 and 148,000 today, according to the World Conservation Union. The United Nations is about to list the hippopotamus as a "vulnerable" species. " (Text Adapted from Smithsoniam Magazine, January 2006, p. 74)

Happy Hippo strives to bring a world consciousness into the daily lives of children so that each one can be a responsible caring individual in this global society.

The story of Owen & Mzee by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu, is a real life story, which teaches us about compassion and friendship.  In addition, it teaches how two creatures who were not "supposed" to get along, came together and enhanced each other's lives.