Rita's Rhino

PreS-Gr 2—Rita wants a pet and is not satisfied with the small critters her family members give her (a flea, a tadpole). Deciding to find a pet herself, she heads to the zoo. After meeting a rhinoceros there, Rita offers to bring him home to get out of the rain. She sneaks him past the zookeeper, squeezes him into the elevator, and hides him in her bedroom. Rita then learns that her new pet only eats "grass from Africa," so they head to the pet shop. Rita later takes her rhino to school, where he is ultimately forced to be a "bouncy castle." This experience prompts him to sneak back to the zoo, but he remembers Rita fondly. The loose cartoon watercolors in Ross's recognizable style are comical, especially the images of Rita trying to conceal her large pet and her efforts to dispense with the giant piles of poop every day. The quirky tone matches the ridiculous premise, and this silly story would pair nicely with Jenny Offill's Sparky! (Random, 2014) for a storytime about unusual pets. Though the ending feels abrupt, young readers will likely relate to Rita's desire for a pet and the potty humor is sure to get some squeals.—Whitney LeBlanc, Staten Island Academy, NY