Censorship by Debate? or the Curious, Electronic E-fair of the "Hippo Smack"

  • Hazel Edwards

Abstract

‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’ picture book series has achieved iconic status in Australia.  Colorfully illustrated by Deborah Niland, the titles explore the reassurance of having an imaginary hippo friend who accompanies a little girl through all ‘first-time’ scary experiences like starting school, going to hospital or on holiday, or having a new baby in the family. The books celebrate imagination and self-esteem. Internationally the series has sold over a million copies and has been translated into Japanese.  It has crossed media into puppetry, performance, video, audio, music and songs, Auslan (signing) for deaf children and Braille. Nominated by readers as one of the ABC’s most popular books of all time, it has won numerous awards and is even painted as a favourite character on the side of a mobile library bus. Originally published by Hodder, when the titles were moved to Penguin in 2004, a line in the first title was queried.  At a point in the story where the little girl gets in trouble for drawing on “Daddy’s best book”, it was suggested that the original “Daddy gave me a smack” be changed to “Daddy growled at me.” This generated a public controversy that played out, most unexpectedly, in the public and online media of radio, television, email, internet chat and blogs.

Author Biography

Hazel Edwards
Hazel Edwards is an Australian author of over 170 books for adults and children. She writes across media, including picture books, YA novels, and recently she co-authored ex blog Cycling Solo: Ireland to Istanbul with her cartographer son Trevelyan Quest Edwards.  In 2000 she was a recipient of the Australian Antarctic Division's Humanities Program berth that took her on the polar resupply voyage to Casey station, Antarctica in 2001 with resulting expedition publications that included animation, scripts, Auslan (signing) DVDs and the picture book Antarctic Dad. Hazel runs Non Boring Writing workshops for genealogists, and web-chats about stories like ‘HandMe Down Hippo', crossing media with audio, Braille and visual presentation.  In 2006 she was a national Literacy Champion and is on the Australian Society of Authors’ committee, co-holding the portfolios for Education and Children’s Books. Her books have been translated into many languages and across media into theatre and TV.
Published
2008-06-26
Issue
Vol. 12 No. 2 (2008)
Section
Jabberwocky
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