Rita’s Rhino
Tony Ross
Andersen Press
Young Rita decides to take things into her own hands when the pets she is offered by relations prove a big let down. Off she goes to the zoo and there offers a home to a rhinoceros no less. Having suitably disguised said animal, the pair depart

for Rita’s residence. However it’s pretty tricky hiding a large animal in a small flat especially an upstairs one and the creature proves to be a very fussy eater – no toast, only very expensive African grass will do for him.
It’s not just his sheer size or his diet that present problems for Rita; his piles of poo are pretty tricky to hide too.

Neither side is satisfied seemingly – lifts are not the rhino’s thing and he misses his comfy bed.
And then, Rita takes her pet to school, securing him belly up by the horn in the playground and informing the teacher that he’s a bouncy castle not a rhinoceros.
Imagine the children’s reaction; out they dash for a spot of bouncing

and that is the beginning of the end. Off back to the zoo goes the rhino leaving a sad Rita who, from then on, has to be content with annual seaside visits with her erstwhile house pet.

The perfect combination of understated text and brilliantly comic, droll illustrations work in absolute harmony in Ross’s wry take on pet ownership.
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While on the subject of picky animals there’s another one in this story:

YUCK! Said the Yack
Alex English and Emma Levey
Maverick Arts Publishing
The young host in this amusing book also offers his visitor toast (with jam not marmalade though) and receives an unequivocal YUCK! Poor long-suffering Alfie gets the same answer in response to his offers of freshly picked apples,

eggs, peas, cheese and even strawberry jelly and chocolate ice-cream. So he tries his hand at baking a delicious-looking cake but this meets with an even stronger reaction.

Poor Alfie is beside himself “I GIVE UP!” he yells and then his visitor explains… “yaks like grass!” and offers Alfie a taste of this yummy fare. No prizes for guessing what Alfie replies …
Young audiences relish the opportunity to shout YUCK at almost every turn of the page of this short, enjoyable story and be amused by Emma Levey’s hilarious, wonderfully expressive portrayal of the fussy eater and his despairing host.
With its easy to read, rhyming text printed in large type, this is a book learner readers can enjoy for themselves after an initial read aloud from an adult.
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