good

The language is pretty, but not ornamental, and that's one of the reasons it's so short. It's not great, but it's decent. There's just not much to it.

It's really cute. I would think that most children wouldn't get the emotional bits and would just think it was a funny book about having a rhinoceros for a pet. And it is funny. There's definitely no bad message to this. I don't think a child would actually get the impression from this that rhinoceroses make good pets. It's more or less a book of imagination, whimsy, and nonsense, and Shel Silverstein is a master of all three.

I guess the lack of realism in the drawings of the monsters is what made this not as scary to me as a child, and that monsters were not really what I worried about. The realism of the story and the humanizing of the mother are really good.

There's nothing really to it. It's enjoyable and light. My kids enjoy making funny noises. Silly things are attractive to children. The imaginative, whimsical aspects of this book are great. There's no real message to it, but it might encourage children to use their imagination and be more descriptive of things.

It's kind of bad in that it turns out that none of them are really correct about the moon. It is super big and super far away, and they couldn't have really gotten it for him, but I think the real message is that everybody's opinion is equally important, even children.

It's an autobiographical story. The author says he was about 4 or 5 when the map was first bought, and eventually he became a well-respected children's illustrator and writer.

It speaks to the shy little introvert in everyone, and talks about having the courage to do things that are difficult and that nobody else has ever done.

It's sweet, simple, and gentle. It's definitely good for children who are into airplanes. It's an imaginative journey.

It's just kids having fun together and making something bigger than they are and playing with it, and having fun with their imaginations.

It shows that even small people who are clever can be helpful. And small people are presumably the audience of this book.