I Know a Rhino

Most of the pages are literally falling out. When you open the book the pages are either hanging out with some having fallen. My kid LOVES this book so it’s frustrating.

This story of a little girl and her boisterous, friendly, semi-imaginary wild pets was an instant favorite with my 21-month old daughter. The copy is perfect: it rhymes, it goes with the pictures, and there's isn't very much of it, so for once the story proceeds at the right brisk pace for little page turners. And the pictures of the impish girl and the things she does with the animals are very engaging. The rhino drinks tea, the pig has mud fights, and the dragon needs looking after when he has a cold. We both had this one memorized in less than a day. I can tell it will join "Gorilla" "Moon" and our other favorites on the frequently read list.

Have you ever sipped tea with a rhino, sang songs with an ape, or treated a dragon for a cold? Well, Charles Fuge has a story for you called "I Know a Rhino" which invites you into a loveable animal adventure that will make your imagination run wild like the girl in the story. All while just being at home a girl has lots of fun with eight different animals which are all her friends and at the end of the book you will see why. The text is told in first person and printed in a thick black ink that really stands out against the bright pages. Each double spread page is devoted to one animal which gives the girl different emotions that are vivid in the watercolor paintings. The impressionistic art accurately portrays the size difference between the girl and each animal; he even makes you turn the book vertically to show the height of the giraffe. The balance between the text and illustrations is unparalleled and makes this a picture book that will want to be read over and over again. This is the ultimate animal fantasy for every preschooler to realize that in their imaginative world they can do anything even if they are stuck at home.

Both my daughters, ages 4 and 17 months, LOVE this book. The younger one will sit still for it to be read to her without interuption (amazing!), and the older one loves the rhymes. The illustrations are outstanding and the heroine adorable! A real winner!

Fuge's engaging rhymes (I know a hippo, and when she's not busy, we spin round and round until we get dizzy) and the gorgeous pictures really hold the attention of the two- to three-year old set. The book capitalizes on the the beginnings of pretend play (all the animals are really the child's stuffed toys) and language skills of children this age. It has become my daughter's favorite, and we have to read it every single night, sometimes twice.

This delightful, sweet, and incredibly illustrated book is our favorite. After a trip to the zoo we brought it home for our 3 and 1 year old to enjoy. The illustrations have amazing detail and capture such emotion. The rhymes are very cute and catchy. Our 1 year old squeals with excitement every time she finds it and she will sit and flip through the pages over and over and over. We love it!