How could I resist such a book when I spotted it in our library? I knew Owen would recognise his name on the cover. I wasn't disappointed:)Nice to read together while Owen is having some "low-key" (whatever that means to an active 8yr old:) time after surgery (Owen had surgery to take his pacemaker out and put a new one in this past Wednesday).
Here is the true story the book is based on:
The story of Owen and a giant tortoise named Mzee, which means "old man" in Swahili, is a true one. Owen was rescued by the Kenya Wildlife Service and local fisherman after the hippopotamus and his family were washed down the Sabaki River by a flood and he was brought back to shore by a tsunami wave. Owen was less than a year old - hippopotamus calves ordinarly stay with their mothers for four years - and no-one could find his mother. So they brought him to Haller Park, a nature preserve outside of Mombasa. There the lovely young hippo chose Mzee, a 130 year old male tortoise, to be his mother; and Mzee doesn't seem to mind one bit.
I decided to have a peek on Youtube to see if we could see a baby hippo and found Owen and Mzee photo slides! Fun ! Definitely a recommendation from the Campbells!
