WL Rating
Rhinos Who Surf was given to me a while back when my two sons were just little dudes who couldn’t read. At night, I used to really enjoy reading this book aloud to them, playing to the crowd and doing my most over-the-top Jeff Spicoli impersonation: “mondo waves dude” and “killer aerials.” I‘m not sure if they enjoyed the book as much as their father’s idiotic performance, but Rhinos Who Surf was an often requested title in our household. This slim book is beautifully illustrated in Island-style with, well, rhinos who surf. The language in the book is cliché with terms that are a mix of properly used, out-of-date, jumbled or just plain weird, e.g. going underwater into the “rinse cycle.” The author also throws in a surf glossary at the end of the book that will certainly perpetuate the stoned-and-stupid-surfer-stereotype (five synonyms for “very” for example). As a result, ultra- serious-metaphysical-surfer-wanker types might take objection to the silliness of this book, but I have yet to find a young grom who doesn’t enjoy it. This is a good gift for kids ages 2 to 6. (November 2009)
