Revony Rhinoceros Starts To Smile by Patricia Bardina, Joanne Burgess & Paul Sharp

subtitled A Lesson in Body Language.

So I have two children on the autism spectrum, and one thing I don’t have patience for is autism advice that centers the parent over the child. That is, unfortunately, a perspective that drives way too many of the books available for people looking to better aid and understand their autistic family members. It was thus a huge relief to me that, while Revony Rhinoceros Starts To Smile definitely has Revony’s mom play a large role in the proceedings, the main drivers of this story are absolutely and always Revony’s interests and needs.

The tale starts in a fictional Namibian town where the anthropomorphic animals are gathering to celebrate Bixby Baboon’s birthday. Revony is anxious about being around so many strangers, so stands apart from the rest of the kids as they play together. Her mom notices her tense posture, and asks afterwards whether she was angry at something. Revony admits that she wasn’t angry, just anxious, and now she’s sad that no one asked her to play.

Revony’s mom decides to teach her a quick lesson on body language by studying some of the other animals at the park. Revony learns the difference between friendly and unfriendly postures, and how to keep your distance while still appearing friendly. The next day, they go to practice friendly body language near kids Revony is hoping to play with. It works! Revony is thrilled that she’s not only learned a new social skill but has been brave in applying it to make friends.

Written by two child development professionals who have been trained to teach social skills to, among others, neurodivergent kids, this is a sweet book that lays out a concrete game plan when it comes to displaying and reading basic non-verbal cues. I did think it was a little odd that Revony’s mom didn’t check in with her during the party itself, but I’m also a gregarious neurotypical who’s constantly checking the social temperature during every interpersonal interaction (without, it’s important to note, being a people-pleasing doormat myself.) Along with the cute little song Revony’s mom makes up for her to remember how to exhibit friendly body language — crucially, with the caveat that it’s what to do IF you want to make friends — this is a very valuable guide for young kids for whom body language isn’t an instinctive art.

Speaking of art, Paul Sharp does a terrific job with the animal art here, especially in the colors and textures of the rhinoceri. It’s important, in a book about body language, that the illustrations bring the instructions to life. Mr Sharp’s art does that perfectly, even if my middle child did laugh probably more than he should have at the baboon.

I read this book with said middle child, who had a lot of questions and comments about both art and story. I genuinely feel like he learned something from the book (my youngest child politely declined, as he wasn’t in the mood to read) and that this will help him as he continues on to middle school later this year. Yikes, how have my kids gotten so old? Fortunately, books like these will always be useful to the surprising number of people of any age who don’t automatically understand body language, or perhaps just need a refresher.

Revony Rhinoceros Starts To Smile by Patricia Bardina, Joanne Burgess & Paul Sharp was published October 31 2018 by Gatekeeper Press and is available from all good booksellers, including