The Skinny Hippo
Kiboko Mwembamba
Tus Ntxhw Dej Yuag
el Hipopótamo Flaco
A bilingual children's book series featuring fables about feelings.
Published in Swahili/English, Hmong/English, and Spanish/English!
Waleed is not like the other hippos. Waleed is a skinny hippopotamus. He learns life lessons about self esteem from a wise old fish in the riverbed of the Pangani River in Tanzania. Pages shown in both English and Swahili.
Waleed faces fears on this jungle trip and learns to be brave with the help of a kind elephant guide.
“The concept for Waleed came together as I was thinking about stories I would like to tell my grandchildren that would address how to handle certain emotions and overcome obstacles,” says Denis. “A seemingly emaciated hippopotamus, opposite the robust form of his peers, became an easy conduit for those fables dealing with feelings of otherness. Swahili is an officially recognized language in Tanzania, where the hippo character originates. ‘Waleed,’ in Swahili, means ‘he who hides.’ Waleed became the perfect name for this introverted character afraid of his own shadow.”
Author Denis J. LaComb
Translated by:
Hannah Kwirikia
Illustrated by:
Jubayda Sagor
Translated by:
Asu Yang
