Owen the baby hippo and his mama were best friends. They loved to play hide-and-seek on the banks of the Sabaki River in Africa. That was all before the tsunami came and washed Owen’s world away. But after the rain stops, Owen befriends Mzee, a grayish brown tortoise. He plays with him, snuggles with him, and decides he just might turn out to be his best friend and a brand-new mama. Inspired by the tsunami of 2004, acclaimed storyteller Marion Dane Bauer and celebrated illustrator John Butler depict this heartwarming true tale of healing, adoption, and rebirth – with splendid illustrations and oodles of love.
Marion Dane Bauer is an award-winning author of more than one hundred books for young people, including the Newbery Honor Book On My Honor. Formerly on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, she now writes full-time. Marion Dane Bauer lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
John Butler has written more than a dozen books for children and illustrated over sixty. His books have been published in more than twenty countries and won awards such as the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award, IRA Teachers’ Choice Awards, and Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year. He has had a long career in illustration, working for a very wide range of clients including Time magazine, “Sesame Street,” and the Sunday Times. He lives in England.
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