Rita's Rhino

This extended 'What if?' fantasy follows, in hilarious detail, what would happen if a rhinoceros lived in a modern apartment building. Rita is a little girl who lives in a city and desperately wants a pet. Her mother refuses and, in a nice bit of foreshadowing, says that pets are 'stinky, greedy things' that have to be cleaned up after. Rita, undeterred and thinking big, visits the city zoo, has a brief chat with a rhinoceros, and convinces him to follow her home. Much of the comedy centers on the need to hide an animal as big as a tank: Rita disguises the rhino with her hat and jacket for a walk through the city streets, and covers his bulk with a tiny blanket in her bedroom. Unfortunately, it isn't easy carting rhino poop outside every day or, in the case of the rhino, pretending to be playground equipment. Finally, it gets too much for them both, but the author finds a lovely way to continue their friendship. Ross' playful, ink-and-watercolor illustrations bring to mind Quentin Blake or Sempé's urban New Yorker covers, but with a bulky rhino at center-stage. Sure to charm, fans of Rita's Rhino will want to check out other out-sized comedies, like Bernard Waber's Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (1973) and Ciara Gavin's Room for Bear (2015).―starred, Booklist