School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-This story is told primarily in rhyming quatrains and set in the small village of Sweet Potato, whose residents happily sing in their fields while working the land cultivating their singular crop. One unfortunate night, a herd of rhinoceroses crosses the river, stampedes into town, and devours every sweet potato in sight. Rather than exterminate the animals, one boy crosses the river, sings to the rhinos until he eventually befriends them, and then teaches them how to raise their own crop. Both communities now are self-sufficient, living peacefully side by side. A bold palette enlivens the quaintly distorted town and its few inhabitants. The rhinoceroses themselves are monstrous, hulking creatures on tiny legs. Despite the upbeat message of compassion and caring for your neighbors, this strange story is hindered by an inconsistent plot and meter. Better stories of friendship and sharing abound.-Laura Butler, Mount Laurel Library, NJ Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Think of that axiom about teaching a man to fish-switch rhinos for the guy and sweet potatoes for fish, and the result, unfortunately, breaks no new ground. The hero, a redheaded boy named Roy, not only saves his village of Sweet Potato from marauding rhinos, but spares the misunderstood beasts from being massacred by the angry townspeople. "Now on one side of the river/ The rhinos eat what they've grown./ And nowadays on the other side/ The villagers have their own," writes Prose (Bullyville). Audience participation is invited by the catchy verse and two recurring songlike stanzas, one about root vegetables ("Sweet potato January, sweet potato June./ Sweet potato, hear our happy little tune"), the other a "rhino lullaby." Armstrong (The Chronicles of Narnia Pop-up) makes a valiant effort to give this material some crackle; his rhino gang, with long knobby snouts, dimwitted eyes and lumpy bodies, is impressively intimidating as miscreants and adorably ugly as Roy's new BFFs. But it's not enough to buoy the preachiness of the premise or the by-the-numbers personality of the protagonist. Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved