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Reviewed by:
  • This Is a Moose by Richard T. Morris
  • Jeannette Hulick
Morris, Richard T. This Is a Moose illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. Little, 2014 44p ISBN 978-0-316-21360-8 $18.00     R* 6-9 yrs

Poor film director Billy Waddler: the cinematically inclined duck is simply trying to make a movie about a moose in the wild, but neither his animal cast and crew nor his (unseen) narrator will cooperate. The moose has no interest in acting like a regular moose (he wants to be an astronaut), and not even the film’s introduction (“This is a moose. His father is a moose. His mother is a moose”) is safe from interruption, as the moose’s lacrosse-playing grandma and a giraffe crash the scene. When Grandma Moose and her pal launch Mighty Moose into space (with the help of a couple of sturdy pine trees and a large rubber band), the feathered director loses it completely: “Cut!!! Will somebody please find me an animal that acts like it’s supposed to!!!” A glance at the surrounding crowd of animals all doing decidedly un-animal-like things (the chimpanzee wielding the camera, the overalls-wearing elephant holding the boom mike, etc.) humbles the dramatic duck, and the critters load up a jet-engine powered canoe to follow the moose into space, where they begin filming a new movie: This Is an Astronaut. The increasingly exasperated duck, deadpan animal characters, absurd situations, and disembodied narration recall an animated short with voiceover, and the dialogue-heavy text and plentiful humor make this excellent material for a rowdy readers’ theater production. The serene forested backgrounds of Lichtenheld’s art (in ink, colored pencil, and gouache, with digital enhancement) resemble those of a nature documentary, and the seriousness strikes just the right contrast with the animals’ goofy poses and expressions. Slap some construction paper costumes together for a hilarious performance, or simply pair it with Bingham’s Z Is for Moose (BCCB 4/12) for a duo of melodramatic moose tales. [End Page 48]

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