The dancing hippo
Eric Ouma

In a quiet riverside village, a hippo named Bantu surprised everyone—he loved to dance. Each evening, as the sun painted the water gold, Bantu would rise on his hind legs and twirl, stomp, and sway to the rhythm of the river.
At first, the

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villagers laughed. “A dancing hippo? Impossible!” they said. But soon, they noticed something magical: when Bantu danced, worries melted away, laughter filled the air, and even the shyest villagers joined in.
Children followed his steps,

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musicians played along, and the entire village came alive. Bantu wasn’t just dancing—he was teaching them joy, courage, and the beauty of being different.
From that day, no festival was complete without the hippo’s twirls,

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and the riverbank became a place where happiness danced as freely as the water itself.

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You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
The dancing hippo
Author - Eric Ouma
Illustration -
Language - English
Level - First paragraphs