Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff

Other authors: Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu
Photographs by Peter Greste

This book tells the unlikely and heartwarming story of an odd friendship between a giant tortoise and a hippo living in a Kenyan animal sanctuary. In 2004, when the tsunami washed over the Indian Ocean, it flooded the coast of Kenya where a pod of hippos had made themselves at home at the mouth of the Sabaki River. In the aftermath, one baby hippo was found alive, stranded out on a coral reef. After a dramatic rescue, he was shipped to an animal sanctuary where he immediately bonded with a 130-year-old giant Aldabra tortoise named Mzee. Against all odds – and some would say against nature – the pair remains bonded to this day and are often found near each other in their home at Haller Park. With full-page color photographs that capture the odd couple swimming and cuddling, the text provides plenty of background information on the animals in question and the people who care for them without being weighed down by too many minute facts. Notes in the back of the book give more information about the different species and the geography of their home in Kenya. For any young (or old!) reader who enjoys animals this book does a great job of presenting them in their best light.

"Children will...embrace the incident’s compelling anthropomorphic elements, thoughtfully framed by the authors, and will exclaim over the images of the winsome baby and its grizzled surrogate parent.” - Booklist

"Because it is sensitively structured, with careful choices about what is emphasized and illustrated, the situation does not overwhelm readers. The text and the back matter are brimming with information about the animals, their caregivers, and the locale. This touching story of the power of a surprising friendship to mitigate the experience of loss is full of heart and hope.” - School Library Journal