Reggie, My Rhinoceros

March 15, 2021
Grades K-2 It's hard to think of a tighter relationship than that enjoyed by Reggie, a rhinoceros, and Hopper, a tiny oxpecker bird living off the pests that plague the rhino, and Holzwarth uses their symbiosis as a way to describe a close relationship, its inevitable end, and a way forward. Though it's about grief, this is a largely fun book (first published in Germany as Mein Jimmy in 2019), with Hopper and Reggie taking turns telling--and correcting each other's--stories about their adventures, like the time Reggie fought off three lions, or when he knocked marauding monkeys out of a tree. Plenty of corny jungle jokes are included, too. The illustrations mostly show the animals as silhouetted profiles in the stories they tell. As time passes, Reggie sags with weakness and age, until finally--over the course of three wordless double-page spreads--he lies still. Hopper finds a new zebra host, along with three other oxpeckers that he can regale with stories of his and Reggie's adventures--a very satisfying resolution.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.