The other night Gracie mentioned to me that there was a “Hippomotamus” in her book “Birthday Monsters.” Up until now, we haven’t been correcting her, but she’s old enough now to understand, so I said, “Gracie, it’s Hippo-POT-amus,” emphasizing the “P” so she could hear the difference.
She laughed and said she’d never heard of a Hippopotamus…THIS was a Hippo-MOT-amus.
We went back and forth for a bit until she said, “Daddy, Listen…”
She grabbed her “But not the Hippopotamus” by Sandra Boynton and turned to the first page.
(she can’t read, but she has it memorized)
“A hog and a frog cavort in a bog, but not the Hippo-MOT-amus,” she said with a triumphant grin and shut the book. “See, it’s Hippo-MOT-amus.”
Sources used:
Boynton, Sandra (1995). But Not the Hippo-MOT-amus, pg 1.
