Title: The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm
Authors: LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo
Artists: Courtenay Fletcher
Genre: Drama / Weather / Inspirational / Children's / Folktale
Year Published: 2014
Year Read: 2017
Publisher: Reading Rainbow
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 5+ (Some Intense Scenes)
Buy or Add on: Amazon // Goodreads
I have been a huge fan of “Reading Rainbow” ever since I was a child and I have always
enjoyed reading the books that were either featured or suggested on the TV
series. So, imagine my surprise and
delight when I found out that LeVar
Burton, the longtime host of “Reading
Rainbow” was going to write a children’s book called “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm,” along with co-writing with Susan Schaefer Bernardo and artwork by Courtenay Fletcher. This book will surely inspire many children
to get through hard times themselves!
The story starts off with Mica Mouse sitting with her
father during a storm and she became worried about the storm due to a hurricane
coming in and destroying her home over a year ago. Mica’s father then went to
comfort her by reading her a story about a rhino who also went through some
hard times.
In
the story, the rhino was living peacefully in his home when all of a sudden, a
strong storm came through the valley and started destroying everything that the
rhino cared about. The rhino was so
upset by all the destruction that it ended up swallowing the storm. After the rhino swallowed the storm, the
storm started causing so much disturbance within the rhino and the rhino was at
a lost at what to do. The spider then
comes by and tells the rhino this verse:
“The
world up above is shattered and gray,
But
it’s where you belong, so you must find a way
To
let that storm out and move through your sorrow.
You’ll
find many helpers on your road to tomorrow.”
So, the rhino decided to go on a quest to get rid of the
storm that is boiling inside of him.
Will
the rhino be successful on his quest?
Read
this book to find out!
Wow! I was quite impressed with this inspiring
children’s book that was written by none other than LeVar Burton of “Reading
Rainbow” fame! LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo did a great job at writing
this story as I found this story to be quite inspirational, especially for
children who have to deal with the harshness of the real world and need to find
a way to go through life in such a negative world. I actually found myself relating to both Mica
Mouse and the rhinoceros in the story as I sometimes found myself wondering
about how I can deal with all the wars, deaths and prejudice going on in this world
and I like the fact that this book tries to encourage children to get through
tough times by inspiring them to remain positive and be aware of all the
friends and families they have that will help them through tough times. Courtenay
Fletcher’s artwork is highly creative and cute to look at as I enjoyed the
images of both the rhinoceros and Mica Mouse as the artwork for Mica Mouse and
her father are in smooth watercolors while the artwork for the rhinoceros is in
cut out figures to help the readers distinguished between the two stories.
The reason why I took off half a star from the rating
was because I felt that this story was a bit too lengthy in trying to get its
message across and I wished that they would have trimmed out a few verses that
the animals were trying to tell the Rhino in order to get to the meat of the story
much faster.
Overall, “The
Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm” is a great inspirational book for children who
are also going through hard times and want a good book that can inspire them to
remain positive in such a harsh world. I
would recommend this book to children age five and up since the length and
complexity of this book might be difficult for some smaller children.
You might also like:
This sounds delightful. And a great message too:)
ReplyDeleteYeah!
Delete