There once was a hippo who escaped from the Singapore Zoo and stayed away for many weeks.

Where did he go? What did he do? Why did he come back?

Award-winning duo Alan John and Quek Hong Shin return with their fourth picture book to tell you the story of Harry Hippo and all his animal friends.

It all starts when Harry gets bored one day and sneaks off for a “holiday”. Harry’s friends have fun imagining all the things an adventurous hippo might do. Is Harry at the cinema? Has he seen the Merlion?

Harry, though, despite having met several new animals while on holiday, realises that he misses his friends and his favourite food and that it’s time to go home.

This lively and entertaining story was inspired by Congo, the hippo who slipped out of the Singapore Zoo in early 1974 and evaded capture for more than 40 days. Children can find out more about Congo at the back of the book, in fact pages that include archival photographs and newspaper clippings. There are also pages with information about hippos and vocabulary boxes to support less confident readers.

Harry Hippo’s Holiday will delight wildlife spotters as the illustrations contain no fewer than 15 types of animals, including a banded krait, a purple heron, an Asiatic softshell turtle and a colugo.