Nonfiction-How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships

A. Bibliography:
Jenkins, S. and Page, R. (2010). How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN: 9780547245157

B. Plot Summary:
 In their book How to Clean a Hippopotamus, the husband and wife team, Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, present an informational, yet very interesting collection of animal symbiosis. Mutual symbiosis is when animals partner to help each other and receive some type of benefit from it. The book begins with a 2 page spread on what symbiosis is.  It then leads into several pages of examples ranging from the partnership of a Nile Crocodile and toothpick bird (the bird cleans the crocodile's mouth by eating leftover meat stuck in it's teeth) to the goby fish and pea crab (the goby fish brings food that is too big for it to the pea crab.  The crab eats messily and the fish gets all the scraps). The final partnership discussed is humans and dogs.  Humans provide a home for dogs, while they provide companionship to us.  The final two pages provide facts about the size, habitat and diet of each animal in order by page number.
C. Critical Analysis:
Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, the husband and wife dream team of nonfiction, present an impressive nonfiction book about unusual animal partnerships.  Jenkins himself has written over 30 brilliantly illustrated informational books on animals. Each page of How to Clean a Hippopotamus is filled with surprising facts that will make children and adults of all age swiftly turn the pages.

The book is filled with several nonfiction text features such as bold words, headings, illustrations, and fact pages at the end of the book.  The headings give a fun sneak peek as to what the animal partnerships might be.  For example, the "Climb Aboard, Mate" heading on page 9 give a clue that the hippopotamus lets the turtle climb on him.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the fact pages at the end of the book.  Jenkins and Page give us the different types of symbiosis: mutualism, parasitism and commensualism.  I read about many animals that I had never heard of before such as the tuatara and social weaver, so I was happy to find the fact pages about each animal.  This provided more information on these unusual animals.

Jenkins creates a comicbook style nonfiction book.  The pages are broken up into several boxes of various sizes to replicate the comic book style.  This is a great strategy for reluctant nonfiction readers.  The illustrations are more cartoonish than realistic, which adds to the comic book style.

D. Review Excerpts:
**School Library Journal states "Jenkins's trademark collage illustrations continue to impress with their vibrant and stunning manipulation of cut and torn paper. The book is formatted in a block, comic-book style and is written at a level that is accessible to young browsers yet suitable for older researchers. This title is another outstanding offering from this extraordinarily talented, wonderfully symbiotic couple."
**Publishers Weekly states, "Who better than a husband and wife team to spotlight intriguing partnerships in nature...Closeups, aerial views, and vignettes of animals realistically rendered in Jenkins's trademark collage have a cinematic quality."

E. Connections:

Students can find other books related to symbiosis.  If they want to go deeper into the topic, they can read about the various types of symbiosis: mutualism, parasitism and commensualism.  
Here are other titles about animal symbiosis:  
Coyote and Badger by Bruce Hiscock
How Animals Live by Bernard Stonehouse and Esther Berram Perfect Partners by John Woodward  
The Way Nature Works by John Beazley.  

This book brings up great discussion about partnership.  
Here are some discussion questions/assignments: 
Which animal partnership surprised you the most? Why?
Create your own animal partnership that you think might work. 
How did the nonfiction text features help you understand this book?