Pistes d'exploration

Discuss the friendship between Owen and Mzee. What makes it so remarkable? Identify acts of friendship from the story.

Write a recipe for friendship. What makes a friendship? What does it need (ingredients) and how is it made (method)?

The back pages explain that the friendship between Owen and Mzee gave hope to the people of Kenya after the devastating tsunami of 2004. Why do you think this is so? Explain your reasoning.

Write the story from the point of view of either Owen or Mzee.

Discuss the friendship between Owen and Mzee. What makes it so remarkable? Identify acts of friendship from the story.

Write a recipe for friendship. What makes a friendship? What does it need (ingredients) and how is it made (method)?

In the text, find expressions of friendship and record them on a wall chart.

Include some of these expressions of friendship in a note or e-mail to a friend.

Discuss tsunamis in small teams. Locate Kenya on a map.

The back pages explain that the friendship between Owen and Mzee gave hope to Kenyans after the devastating tsunami of 2004. Explain why this would be so.

Research the Internet for other tales of unlikely animal friendships. Prepare a multimedia presentation for one of these stories. As the authors have done, find an appropriate quote for the end of your presentation.

Amos & Boris, Kenta and the Big Wave

Mots-clés

Non-fiction , animal rescue , friendship , hippopotamus , illustrations (photographs) , Kenya , tortoises , tsunamis

Commentaire descriptif

This non-fiction book addresses a surprising inter-species friendship. Full-page colour photography depicts the dramatic rescue of a baby hippopotamus, stranded by a tsunami on coastal Kenya. The narrative reads like a story, without straying from facts: “Though the baby hippo was only two feet tall, he weighed a hefty 600 pounds and was slippery and strong.… Angrily, he broke through their nets and escaped from their ropes.” Large photographs provide proof of this often incredible story. One photo shows a close-up of a scaly tortoise: “Mzee, whose name means ‘wise old man’ in the Swahili language, was the oldest creature in the park.” Pictures of the animals together—the baby hippo dwarfed in size by the giant tortoise—are astonishing and moving. The language eloquently describes the relationship that grows between the two creatures. Readers will enjoy learning about wildlife experts’ speculations on the causes of this special relationship, and will no doubt have some ideas of their own. Whatever the reasons, they are sure to be pleased that Owen and Mzee’s heartwarming story has been captured. Background material offers further information about the animals and their natural habitats.