Owen & Mzee - Blog 2

This week I read Owen & Mzee by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu. This trade book is about a hippo named Owen and a aldabra tortoises named Mzee. Owen was found stranded the day after the devastating tsunami that occurred in the eastern Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. He was named after, Owen Sobien,  the guy that took him down so the recuse crew could load him in the truck and take him to a safe place. Isabella, Craig, and Dr. Paula worked for the Haller Park (an animal sanctuary) where they offered Owen a place to live. When they unloaded him at Haller Park into Mzee's enclosure, Owen took to Mzee. Mzee was not happy about the attention and hissed at Own. After a couple of the days the two ended up building an amazingly strong bond. They were inseparable. They ate together, swam together, and slept next to each other.

Owen & Mzee is a Nonfiction book. It is a true story with real pictures and information about Owen and the tsunami in 2004. It give facts that sum up the events and what ended up happening to Owens life after. The illustrations in this book are real and were taken of Owen & Mzee over a period of time. I think it adds to the book and makes you want to keep reading to see more pictures.

Some motivational activities I would do would be have the kids color a map of Africa. Mark where Owen was found and where he is now. Talk about what is a tsunami and how is it cause. I would also go over the main animals in Africa. Let them color a tortoises and hippo and write facts about them. When I was done reading Owen & Mzee I would ask the kids some questions. 1.) Where do hippo's live primarily? 2.)How big can they get? 3.) Does tortoises like being alone or with others of his kind?

I really enjoyed this book. It's very cute and hard to believe that a tortoises and hippo end up bonding the way they do. I really enjoyed seeing the pictures to go with the story.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworths, Inc

Hatkoff, I., Hatkoff, C., & Kahumbu, P. (2006). Owen & Mzee. Turtle Pond Publications LLC