Owen and Mzee

Title: Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship

Author: Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu

Illustrator: Photographs taken by Peter Greste

Media: Photography

Genre: Informational Non-fiction

Theme: Regardless of a disaster like a tsunami, friendship can be found at the most unexpected place. “Friendship is stronger than the differences that pull us apart.”

Summary: This is a true story about a baby hippo named Owen, who was separated from his family by a tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004. Villagers in Kenya struggled and gave everything they had in order to save him since he was stranded. Owen was shipped to Haller Park, an animal sanctuary and that is where Owen meets a 130 –year- old tortoise named Mzee. From there, Owen and Mzee developed an unlikely but inseparable bond.

Literary Elements:

Setting- In this book, it explained the impact of the 2004 tsunami on the country Kenya within the small city, Malindi on the coast of the Indian Ocean. This is where many visitors savor in the beautiful beaches and coral reefs and those visitors took part in Owen’s rescue along with the fishermen who reside there. The animal sanctuary is outside of Mombasa, about fifty miles south of Malindi. One of the authors, Dr. Paula Kahumbu, is the director of the sanctuary, the current home of Owen and Mzee.

Characterization-

Within this book, the two animals are described with their actions and through the powerful photographs. This helps the reader transition into an understanding of the story itself, so the characters are well developed (round). The baby hippo was stranded alone without his family and could not reach shore on his own. Even though Owen was terrified, he never gave up on fighting for survival.

With Mzee, he was described as a very unfriendly animal, who only liked one worker in the park, Stephen. Mzee usually kept to himself but as soon as Owen arrived, Mzee began to accept his new friend after resistance at first.

Owen was not eating and the caretakers were fearful for his health until Mzee’s protective presence helped Owen become calm enough to eat. It was apparent this bond truly helped Owen recover from his traumatic experience. Even though Mzee was portrayed as a grumpy old turtle, his kindness was displayed through the photographs as both animals were inseparable.

Plot-

The sequence of events within this story is in chronological order and presents two conflicts, self versus other and self versus nature. Owen’s conflict with Mzee as he was not happy with the attention Owen was giving him at first. Also it presents Owen’s struggle with survival against nature, the tsunami.

Style- The authors decided to write this book as a retelling of Owen’s journey and the development of his bond with Mzee. With each page and photograph, the readers are left with a desire to read more to find out what happened next. The narrator is presented as a third person but yet it captures the emotions of two animals that developed into great friends.

Reflection/Evaluation-

This book is inspirational! Isabella, a 6 year old and her father were drawn to this story as it appeared in newspapers in January 2005. Their determination to find out more about Owen and Mzee brought them in contact with Dr. Paula Kahumbu and to the retelling of their story. Owen and Mzee’s resilence and friendship reminds the reader that even though one may face tragedy, one should never give up because you do not know what your life has in store for you! With actual photographs, it captures the precious moments within the bond and this makes the story even more inspirational.