Okay, sorry for the recent absence. I don't even have a good excuse. I just got lazy. So to make up for it, I have a whole lotta picture books here for you.

Starting off we have Hippo! No, Rhino!, which wins the award for most punctuation in a book title. But that's not the only remarkable thing about this hilarious book. The whole business starts off when a rather ill-informed zoo keeper places a "Hippo" sign in front of the rhino pen. All sorts of people come by, and remark on the hippo. Rhino becomes rather frustrated, repeatedly shouting out that he is, in fact, a rhino, and that's not his "sign-o." Luckily for the rhino, a sympathetic little boy comes along and fixes the sign. However, on the last page, the zoo keeper strikes again, setting up a sign in front of the hippo that reads "Porcupine-o."

Newman's illustrations make the small amount of text work perfectly. The rhino grows visibly more frustrated, as the ignorant visitors continue to not notice his innate rhino-ness. There are also tons of hilarious details throughout; my favourite being the small birds that hang out on the rhino's back.

Hippo! No, Rhino! written and illustrated by Jeff Newman
ISBN 031615573X
32 pages