- Harvey is teased for loving ballet — and he’s a boy, which is the whole point.
- The book was written after a real incident when the author’s son was mocked by classmates for loving cooking.
- Kitty and Dino don’t just solve the problem — they help Harvey find his own way of doing things.
- The core message: you don’t have to fit the mold. You just have to be brave enough to try anyway.
- Written for ages 3–8, it reads well aloud and holds up to the “again, again!” test.
My son just told me he wants to be a vet surgeon. He’s five now. Last year it was a chef — and honestly, that one stuck with me longer.
He was maybe three and a half when he started telling his friends at Montessori that he loved cooking. That he wanted to be a chef one day. The other kids laughed at him. “Cooking is for girls,” they said. I’m not sure they even meant anything by it — kids that age don’t, really. But my son didn’t know that. He just went quiet.
That night I sat next to him thinking: how do I explain this? How do I tell a four-year-old that the world has a lot of opinions about what boys are supposed to like, and that most of those opinions are wrong? That if you love something — genuinely love it — you have to be willing to stand in front of people who don’t get it and do it anyway?
— What I wanted my son to understand
I didn’t have a speech ready. So I wrote a story instead. That’s how Harvey the Hippo came to exist. He’s now part of a 43-book series — but this one came first, in the sense that it came from the most personal place.
What Is Kitty and Dino Help Harvey the Hippo About?
Harvey loves ballet. He’s big, he’s round, and he dances. The other animals tease him — not out of cruelty exactly, just because it doesn’t fit what they expect a hippo to do. Ballet is for small, graceful creatures. Everyone knows that. Harvey is neither of those things.
So Harvey hides it. He practices alone. He stops performing where anyone might see.
Kitty and Dino show up the way they always do — because someone in the forest needs help, and these two can’t walk past a problem. But what they give Harvey isn’t a solution from the outside. They don’t fix the teasing. They don’t make the other animals suddenly understand. What they do is help Harvey find his version of ballet. The way only a hippo can do it.
Harvey doesn’t perform ballet the way a ballerina would. He performs it the way Harvey does — big, powerful, and completely his own. That’s the point. You don’t have to do it the way everyone else does. You just have to do it.
By the end, Harvey dances in front of everyone. Not perfectly. Not conventionally. But fully, without apology. That’s the image I wanted my son to carry around.
Meet the Characters
An orange tabby with the power to control wind, water, and earth. She’s the one who usually spots the problem first — and she doesn’t let it go.
A small green dinosaur who can grow plants, heal things, and change temperatures. Gentler than Kitty, but just as determined.
A big hippo with a big dream. He loves ballet. He’s been laughed at for it. He still loves it — which is braver than it sounds.
The Kitty and Dino world is always a magical forest. It’s safe enough that kids can dream, wild enough that it matters when something goes wrong.
Why Does This Theme Matter for Kids Ages 3–8?
Gender expectations land early. Earlier than most parents expect. By three or four, kids are already sorting the world into what boys do and what girls do — usually because older kids or adults have been sorting it for them. A book that directly challenges that, in a story rather than a lecture, does something a conversation at dinner can’t quite do.
Stories slip past the defenses. A child who would roll their eyes at “boys can like dancing too” will sit completely still for a hippo who does ballet. Same idea. Different delivery. The difference matters enormously. It’s the same reason kids who resist reading often come around when the book is about something they already care about — the right story finds a way in.
And it’s not just about ballet, or cooking, or any specific thing. The point Harvey makes is general: your way of doing something doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s way. That’s a message that gets tested over and over as kids grow up — on sports fields, in classrooms, in friendships. If they have Harvey in the back of their mind, maybe that helps a little.
How Does It Read Aloud at Bedtime?
Pretty well, actually. I wrote this series as a father who reads to his son every night, so I know what it’s like to be the one doing the reading. The sentences are short enough to get through without tripping, long enough to carry some feeling. There’s a rhythm to the scenes that makes the ending land right. If you’re curious about why that nightly ritual matters beyond just the stories themselves, the science behind bedtime reading is genuinely surprising.
The story doesn’t overstay its welcome either. Harvey’s problem is clear, Kitty and Dino’s help is concrete, and the resolution feels earned. Kids who’ve been teased for something will recognise what Harvey’s going through immediately. That recognition is worth something.
After finishing the story, try asking your child: “Is there something you love that you’ve been afraid to do in front of people?” You might be surprised what comes out. Or you might already know, and this gives you an opening.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kitty and Dino Help Harvey the Hippo about?
Harvey the Hippo loves ballet, but the other animals tease him because it doesn’t fit what they expect a hippo to do. Kitty and Dino help him find the courage to perform ballet in his own unique way — showing kids that you don’t have to match what others expect of you.
What age is this book for?
Ages 3–8. It works well as a read-aloud for younger kids (3–5) and holds up for early independent readers in the 6–8 range. The language is simple but the idea isn’t — which is the balance this age group needs. Younger kids especially tend to ask for it multiple times, which is actually a good sign — repetition in picture books builds language skills faster than variety does.
What lesson does Harvey teach children?
Two things, really. First: it’s okay to love something that other people don’t expect you to love. Second: your version of doing that thing doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Harvey doesn’t become a traditional ballerina. He becomes a Harvey version of one. That’s the whole point.
Why did you write a story about a dancing hippo?
Because my son told his school friends he wanted to be a chef and they laughed at him. I couldn’t explain gender stereotypes to a four-year-old. I could tell him a story about a hippo who danced ballet and got the last word. So I did.
Where can I buy the book?
It’s available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook: Kitty and Dino Help Harvey the Hippo (ASIN: B0GCPLX1G4). It’s part of the 43-book Magical Tales of Kitty and Dino series.
What are Kitty and Dino’s powers?
Kitty is an orange tabby cat who can control wind, water, and earth. Dino is a small green dinosaur who can grow plants, heal injuries, and change temperatures. They live together in a cozy hut made of twigs and leaves and spend most of their time helping whoever shows up at the forest in need. Read more about how the series started — the origin story is worth knowing.
Harvey the Hippo is for every kid who’s been told their interest doesn’t belong to them. It’s also for every parent who’s watched their child go quiet after being laughed at and didn’t know what to say. Sometimes a hippo who dances explains it better than we do.
Ready to Read Harvey’s Story?
Grab the Kindle ebook on Amazon and add it to tonight’s bedtime rotation. It’s a short read — usually about ten minutes — with a payoff that sticks.
