Title: Pinky and Thunder: Royal Rhinos of Africa
Author: Crested Crane Publishing
Illustrated by: L.K. Benfer
Publisher: L.K. Benfer
ISBN-13: 0986385107
Pages: 32
Genre: Children’s Book
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin
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Pacific Book Review
In the Limpopo Valley in central Africa lives a heard of black Rhinoceros. So sets the scenes of the African wild animal kingdom in Richard M. Beloit’s beautifully illustrated children’s book titled Pinky and Thunder: Royal Rhinos of Africa.
The King and Queen of the heard, two large black Rhinos, have a strong son named Thunder. Thunder is a large, fierce Rhino, weighing in at 5,000 pounds and is the male protector of the herd, keeping all of the other Rhinos safe.
Thunder wants to go away from the herd to start his own family, but cannot leave the herd unprotected. So all the Rhinos are happy when a new son is born to the King and Queen; a new male to eventually take over the task of protecting the herd. But low and behold the new baby Rhino is rather small, and to make matters worse, he’s pink. Although Pinky, as the Rhino is thusly named, eats as much as he can, he still isn’t large enough to protect the others, as the Lions and Giraffes laugh at Pinky as he stomps around trying to chase them away from the water hole.
What happens next is a surprise to everyone, including Pinky. Author Richard M. Beloit uses his storytelling skills to intertwine a moral to those that read this book at bedtime as they learn a lesson, which plays an important role in life. By creating a visual world of animals in the wild, peacefully setting their pecking order within the hierarchy of gathering food and water, the story combined with the artful illustration by L. K. Benfer embellishes beautifully the landscape and animal’s interactions.
The subtle moral is icing on the cake of an enjoyable storyline; one which can be read over and over making it an epic foundation to a child’s developing his or her own values. The galley text blends with the illustrations seamlessly into a visual presentation embedding the rhino characters with human-like personality characteristics.
Pinky and Thunder makes an ideal gift book for a toddler’s birthday party, or a valuable collectable for a family library. Big, fat, and fiercely active Rhinos are brought down to the size of playful, colorful characters. Adding a little bit of “Magic” to the formula creates an unforgettable tale of tailed creatures living together in the wild. Both text and artwork combine to paint a vivid, moving story of courage, cooperation, and community. Highly recommended!
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