Cirrus@Austlit

'Hazel Edwards loves quirky stories, people and experiences, all the ingredients that make a good book. Her best known work is the seminal classic There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake, first published in 1980, and still thriving 43 years on. This was Hazel's third book for children, inspired by her 4 year old son Trevelyan who insisted builders on the leaking roof of their Melbourne home were actually a clomping and stomping hippopotamus. As has happened all her life, Hazel used quirky things happening to spark a story and ran with it, crafting one of the world's most recognisable picture books.' (Introduction)