John Rox (1907–1957)

The Christmas song (my favorite Christmas song), illustrated.

My confession is that I do, absolutely, want a hippopotamus for Christmas. The illustrations fit the song perfectly, which is joking but also not joking. I particularly like a page with an enormous close-up of the girl’s delighted face with the hippo reflected in her eyes, followed by an enormous close-up of the hippo’s delighted face with the girl reflected in its eyes. The hippo wants a girl just as much as the girl wants a show more hippo! I love it. show less

Thank you, GR reviewer Relyn, for explaining the story behind the song. I still don't get the point of the book though. But then, I'm not a kid, so maybe it's just a simple fantasy that speaks to a little kid's heart. Something about dreaming big, and magic, maybe.

Note: I have a song on iTunes