Lucy has some very strange neighbors with horns, humps, tails, and trunks. That's because Lucy lives next door to the zoo! Every night, she climbs down the long neck of Georgina the Giraffe and listens to one of them tell her a story. Henrietta is hairy and all the other hippos laugh at her. "Henrietta's hairy, Henrietta's hairy!" they sing all day long. Henrietta is unhappy and wants to go where no one laughs at her. So she leaves the safety of the Zambam river and goes in search of a new home. She travels to the desert—but it's too hot—to the jungle—but it's too scary—and to the mountains—but they're too steep. But when Snip Snip the bird gives her a trendy new hairdo, Henrietta returns home looking like a princess—until she goes swimming. Will the other hippos accept her for who she really is?
