The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park: A Novel

The enchanting new novel by the multi-million-copy bestselling author of What You Are Looking For Is In the Library, about five strangers who each seek comfort from a healing hippo ride

Nestled at the bottom of a five-story apartment block in the community of Advance Hill is the children's playground in Sunrise Park, where you will find a very special, age-old hippo ride named Kabahiko. According to urban legend, if you touch the exact part of the hippo where you find yourself have an ailment or wound, you will see swift signs of recovery. They call it "Healing Hippo." In The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park, the apartment residents each find their way to Kabahiko, confessing their troubles and drawing upon the hippo's rumored abilities. From a struggling student who pets the hippo's head to reverse his poor academic performance, to the lonely new mother who hopes that touching the hippo's mouth will allow her to better express herself, this heartwarming, eclectic cast of characters will all come to Kabahiko for healing in their lives -- though they may not always find it in the ways they expect. With Aoyama's classic charm and emotional power, The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park is a deeply moving celebration of kindness, community, and understanding.

About the Author

Michiko Aoyama was born in 1970 in Aichi Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. After university, she became a reporter for a Japanese newspaper based in Sydney before moving back to Tokyo to work as a magazine editor. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library was short-listed for the Japan Booksellers’ Award and became a Japanese bestseller. It is being translated into more than fifteen languages. Michiko Aoyama lives in Yokohama, Japan. Takami Nieda was born in New York and has translated Japanese titles for English-language publication, including Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula, Koji Suzuki’s Promenade of the Gods, M’s Death Note: L, Change the World, and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Art of Ponyo. In addition to her work as a translator and screenwriter, she teaches writing and rhetoric at Highline Community College in Seattle.