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Summary
Summary
An ear-tickling, eye-teasing romp for little listeners, led by an award-winning author and illustrator
Do you really, really want to see a moose -- a long-leggy moose -- a branchy-antler, dinner-diving, bulgy-nose moose? Spurred by Phyllis Root's sing-songy text and Randy Cecil's buoyant illustrations, this hunt for an elusive moose through woods, swamps, bushes, and hills is just as fun as the final surprise discovery of moose en masse. Children will laugh at the running visual joke -- what is that little dog looking at? -- and ask for repeated reads of this satisfying tale.
Author Notes
Phllis Root is the author of over forty books, almost all of them picture books, both fiction and non-fiction. Her middle grade novel, Lilly and the Pirates, is currently under contract. Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble won the Minnesota Book Award, and Big Momma Makes the World won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award. Root was awarded a 2006 McKnight Fellowship for her book, Lucia and the Light. She has taught at the Loft, in the Complete and Practical Scholar program at the University of Minnesota, and in Vermont College's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
With an infectious assertion "We've never, ever, ever, ever, ever seen a moose. And we really, really, really, really want to see a moose" four children go in search of the elusive beast. As the quartet pokes in the woods, wades in swamps and peers in the bushes, Root (Big Momma Makes the World) takes ample opportunity for rhythmic wordplay: "We scrape through the bushes scritch scratch! scritch scratch! the brambly-ambly, bunchy-scrunchy, scrubby-shrubby bushes." The search finally takes them to a rocky hillside, where a whole passel of comically deadpan moose await ("We've never, ever, ever seen so many moose!"). The payoff isn't entirely satisfying, however, because author and illustrator do not seem entirely in sync. Cecil's (My Father the Dog) stubby-legged, potato-faced moose-seekers are cute and comically intent, but the expressionistic landscapes, with their subtly mottled textures and muted palette of greens and browns, put a visual damper on the silly proceedings. Still, children should enjoy seeing the diminutive cast confidently scrambling over hill and dale, and sharp-eyed readers will get a kick out of spotting various clues (e.g., skinny tree trunks with hooves) that the moose have actually been following the party all along. Age 3-5. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Determined to find a moose, four children set off through the woods, across a swamp, and finally over a hilltop where, to their delight, they discover hundreds of moose. Colorful rhythmic language makes this a rollicking read-aloud. Youngsters will want to get close enough to the book to be able to point out the moose hidden throughout the autumn-hued oil illustrations. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Root's jaunty wordplay and Cecil's textured, hide-and-seek illustrations make this an engaging romp that will be fun to share with one child or many. In the first double-page spread, an excited-looking little girl asks three other kids if they have seen a long-leggy moose. This starts the children (and one very alert dog) on a quest that takes them to the woods, a swamp, a clump of bushes, and a rocky hillside. Part of this fun comes from the kids changing costumes--removing and replacing hats, boots, and backpacks, and raising and lowering their pants legs and sleeves. The text appeals to the senses: there's the squeech squooch! squeech! squooch! of the sloppy-gloppy, lily-loppy, slurpy-glurpy swamp. The illustrations, done in oils, keep to forest colors of browns, greens, and oranges as they pull youngsters along until the search ends with the discovery of a whole field of moose, just right for counting. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2006 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Four intrepid youngsters set out to find a moose-a "long-leggy-branchy-antler, dinner-diving, bulgy-nose moose." They've never seen one, but they know what to look for. Their investigations take them through the woods, into the swamp, behind the bushes, and up a rocky hillside before finally reaching their goal. In the end, they find not one moose, but more than they ever imagined. Root's minimalist story bears a strong resemblance to "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," but without the breathless backtracking that makes reading that tale so much fun. The text here is not strict rhyming, but there is a singsong effect that borders on annoying baby-speak, such as when the children climb the "rocky-blocky, lumpy-bumpy, fuzzy-muzzy hillside." Cecil's illustrations, done in oil, have a fuzzy-muzzy look of their own, with evident brushstrokes and earthy, woodsy shades of green, brown, and gray. The perspective of the pictures, leading readers' eyes down, at times gives the impression that the children are themselves being watched by the moose. An animal is in fact hidden in each picture, although many youngsters will need help to spot it. Because of the seek-and-find layout, the book will work better one-to-one than with a group.-Kara Schaff Dean, Needham Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this energetic frolic replete with onomatopoeic language, four friends put on their hats and boots and go off in search of a moose, because they want to see one. Through woods, swamp and brush, the boys and girls wade, hike, stomp, scrape and look as hard as they can. There just aren't any moose about . . . or are there? (Careful viewers will notice the stray antler and muzzle that appear throughout the illustrations, unbeknownst to our heroes.) When the children decide to explore a hillside, they scramble up to the top, where they are surprised by a resonant moose cry. Finally, they have come to the right place--there are many moose to be seen! The interactive nature of the story is very effective, and children will thoroughly enjoy pointing out the moose and other smaller animals that periodically appear. Inventive and appealing illustrations depict these four multiracial moose hunters as they intently search, and the buoyant, rhymed text makes for a stellar read-aloud. An excellent addition to any collection. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
