I've Lost My Hippopotamus - A Poetry Break

INTRODUCTION
You should never lose your imagination. Ever. I read this poem while looking through poet's Jack Prelutsky's new book I've Lost My Hippopotamus and loved this poem because of the imagination and how it can inspire the reader to use his or hers to find out where is that silly hippo! Share this poem with a visual aid - yep, a photo or two of a hippopotamus!







POEM

I've Lost My Hippopotamus
by Jack Prelutsky 

I've lost my hippopotamus,
The situation's weird.
One minute she was next to me,
Then poof! she disappeared.
It's hard to lose a hippo,
For a hippo's truly huge-
I'm sensing something fishy,
Some unsavory subterfuge.
I've searched and searched with no success,
I've yet to find a clue
To her status or location,
I'm unsure of what to do.
If you spot a hippopotamus
Where usually there's none,
Please let me know, the odds are good
You've found my missing one.

EXTENSIONS

• Ask the children where they think the hippopotamus could have disappeared to, and let them share their ideas.
• Ask if anyone has ever had an imaginary animal, and let them share it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prelutsky, Jack. 2012. I've Lost My Hippopotamus. Illus. by Jackie Urbanovic. NY, NY: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollinsPublishers). ISBN: 9780062014573.