Review by Booklist Review
This romp of a picture book for very young audiences begs to be read aloud. The plot is fairly simple: a trio of squabbling rhino siblings can't quite manage to get ready for bed, despite poor, exhausted Mama's best efforts. Familiar bedtime activities, including finishing dinner, taking a bath, and brushing teeth involve pushing, bumping, butting, biting and Mama's exasperated interventions. Goodnight stories and songs calm things down a bit, and the action ends with a big group hug for Mama and (almost) everybody falling sound asleep. The rhyming text incorporates numerous exclamations and sound effects. Adult readers should be prepared to harrumph, gripe, snipe, grumble, and roar. The pencil-and-crayon illustrations do an effective job of conveying the mayhem, and the facial expressions add to the general hilarity. While this would be a great choice for library storytime, it's not really recommended for bedtime most young readers will be way too riled up.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bedtime preparations prove anything but restful for three rhino siblings in this slice-of-life story from the team behind Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That (2014). Mama rhino is the voice of reason as Allenby describes the household chaos in rhymes that bound along with her young heroes: "One little rhino making faces./ Two little rhinos leave their places./ Three little rhinos butting heads./ Little rhinos, in your beds!" Working in pencil crayon, Anderson gives the rhinos human routines and accessories (one of the babies wears a hair bow, and Mama has a set of pearls), and she plays up the physical comedy of their rambunctiousness, whether it's a rhino sending food and drink flying during dinner or a bathtub pileup that leaves "one little rhino feeling squashed." Allenby interrupts her rhymes with a handful of sound effects ("Fidget fuss frump/ Huff harrumph"), as well as a brief bedtime song that helps shift the story's mood to one of calm. It's a playful celebration of both the commotion of daily life and the love among members of a family. Ages 2-4. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Toddler-PreS-Three rambunctious little rhinos wreak havoc while their mother tries to coax them through their bedtime routine. They tussle, fight, grunt, and bite-while poor Mama becomes more and more despondent and frustrated. But don't worry-(spoiler alert!) all's well that ends well, with Mama on the receiving end of a gigantic rhino hug! Allenby's jazzy verse tries to evoke a rollicking tone but occasionally seems forced, with some stilted lines: "Here's a kiss and here's a song-/Ohhh, from your hooves to the tip of your horn/Ohhh, I've loved you since the day you were born/And when you wake,/please get along!" Meanwhile, Anderson's pencil and crayon illustrations attempt this same playfulness, but the rhinos' mouths and bodies often appear slightly stretched or contorted, resulting in some strange-looking characters. VERDICT This selection will certainly strike a familiar chord with squabbling siblings and their frazzled parents and fans of Anna Dewdney and Sandra Boynton, but more charming rhyming stories abound.-Laura Lintz, Henrietta Public Library, Rochester, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The evening and bedtime routines of three rhinos involve lots of intervention from an exasperated mother.One little rhino in a mood. / Two little rhinos acting rude. / Three little rhinos tussling, fighting. // Mama rhino cries, / No biting! The evening squabbles continue through dinnertime, a bath, drying off, and brushing teeth. But when a tired Mama enjoins them, Heres a kiss and heres a song / And when you wake, please get along! the three band together to give her some love before all fall asleep. Since Anderson favors double-page spreads over vignettes, it can be difficult for readers to pick out and count the rhinos to match the text, and this sometimes also results in the pictures not matching the rhymes at all. When Anderson shows the baby rhino in a highchair gleefully throwing food and the two older siblings on the opposite page, it is clear that the two have left their places, but the three are not butting heads as the rhyme says. Mama rhino sports a double piercing in her ear and pearls around her massive, wrinkly neck, while one child has bows on head and tail. While the rhymes and cadence may remind more than one reader of Anna Dewdneys Llama Llama, few will return for repeat outings with this trio; they lack the characterization and personality of the beloved camelid, and the illustrations just dont do this tale justice. A rhino-miss. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
