Children’s bookshelves can always use another picture book that combines a clever, well-meaning child with an animal hero...
Both Rita and her new pet rhinoceros—an escapee from the local zoo—learn that it’s not so easy for a rhino to be a city girl’s pet.
Rita is rightfully annoyed when she requests a pet and Mom and Uncle Eric offer her, respectively, a flea and a tadpole. Off she goes to the zoo, where the rhino gratefully squeezes through his bars when he learns that Rita’s apartment is waterproof. The wry humor continues as tiny Rita leads away the rhino without concern of discovery, as she has tossed her hat and coat over his voluminous mass. The artwork of David Small and Quentin Blake come to mind, as droll characters play out absurd situations against lively backdrops. There is no doubt that the “rhino poop” problem will elicit giggles. Perhaps the funniest scene occurs when Rita leaves the rhino outside her school, “horn stuck firmly in the ground to stop him rolling over.” When asked, “Is that a rhinoceros?” she tells her nearsighted teacher, “That’s my bouncy castle.” Then again, it’s equally funny to see the reactions of her classmates—and the rhino—to that statement. The ending, like the rest of the story, is gentle, satisfying and, of course, funny.
Children’s bookshelves can always use another picture book that combines a clever, well-meaning child with an animal hero and hilarious artwork. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-6315-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An earnest graduation gift: sweet for lifelong fans, cheerfully encouraging for striving, future graduates.
Success comes at last for the bright-eyed Pigeon.
A clever, tongue-in-cheek ersatz colophon reveals that this graduate has been awarded a “Master of Ornery-thology, Bachelor of Arts of Persuasion with a Minor in Major Freak-outs (summa cum loudly).” Fans will be glad that the Pigeon’s tireless, abundant optimism is finally being ceremoniously recognized. On the cover, the Pigeon wears a mortarboard at a jaunty angle, commenting, “I have the hat!” Of course, dressing the part is essential. But also, “I did the work. I paid attention to the little details. I took some BIG steps.” The Pigeon encountered obstacles (not shown, but many memorable ones will come to mind for the Pigeon's followers). And the Pigeon is plagued by worries familiar to many students who are about to graduate: “WHAT WILL HAPPEN THEN?!? What will I do? Who will I be?” The Pigeon appears in every frame, in close-ups and in poses variously thoughtful, confident, or slightly distressed. Our hero’s simple big eyes and wings are, as ever, remarkably expressive. “Oop!” In one scene, while walking off the dais, diploma in wing, the Pigeon comes to what seems like the edge of a chasm. At last, our hero takes flight with other graduates. Willems' popular characters Gerald and Piggie are there to look on admiringly.
An earnest graduation gift: sweet for lifelong fans, cheerfully encouraging for striving, future graduates. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781454960430
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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