MOOSE

Moose are a common animal in Maine. When I say that I am from Maine I often get asked if I have seen a moose. I am teaching in New Hampshire next year and bought a book to read to the kids on the first day called I Met a Moose in Maine One Day, therefore I chose to do my triptych around the theme of moose. All three of my books have a moose as a main character in the story. All three of the stories are geared toward younger children; however they all could be used if your class was studying moose at any grade level for a fun introduction.

The first book I chose was I Met a Moose in Maine One Day written by Ed Shankman and illustrated by Dave O’Neil. This is a fairly new book as it was published in 2008. The story is a picture book for children about a moose in Maine. A young boy is brushing his teeth one morning and sees a moose in the mirror. He tries playing inside with the moose but that does not work so well, so he takes the moose outside. Everyone stops and looks at the moose and the boy thinks that having a moose on a walk with him is a good way to meet friends. The boy and the moose go around town and then to other villages in Maine. In each village they do things that are typical to Maine, such as go to the ocean and eat seafood. At the end of the day the moose leaves and the boy states that the moose was real, although the boy is in bed, leading you to believe it was all a dream. The illustrations in this book are cartoon like and very colorful. They are great pictures for kids to look at, and they really do help to tell the story!

The second book I chose for my triptych was If You Give a Moose a Muffin. This was one of my favorite stories as a kid. The story was published in 1991 by Laura Joffee Numeroff and was illustrated by Felicia Bond. If You Give a Moose a Muffin follows a boy and a moose throughout the day starting with giving the moose a muffin. Each time the boy gives the moose something new the moose is reminded of something else that he wants to do. At the end of the story the moose is finally reminded of the muffin again. The illustrations in this book are great! They are simple but clever and go perfectly with the words. This is a great book to use with children to try and get them to guess what is coming next. Each time the moose is reminded of something new it appears on the next page, allowing children to make a guess before finding out what the moose does next. The third book I chose was Even That Moose Won’t Listen to Me which is the oldest of the three books, published in 1988. It was written and illustrated by Martha Alexander. This is a story of a girl who no one seems to listen to or pay much attention to at all. Her family all seems to be too busy to talk to her. The girl is outside building a rocket ship when she sees a moose. She runs inside to tell the others in her family but no one listens. They do not appear to believe her when she tells them that there is a moose eating the garden. She tries to scare away the moose but nothing works. Her family finally goes outside, when the moose is gone and they see that the garden has been eaten. One the last page the little girl tells them that she will inform them of what happened when she is done building her rocket ship. This is a cute story for young children and can even help them understand the value of listening. The illustrations are average, but they are done in pencil and watercolor and go along with the words nicely.

My triptych books are all connected through moose. These stories can all be used together is doing a unit on moose or New England wildlife, or they can each be read separately for pleasure. They are good stories with enjoyable pictures and all three make great read-a-loud books for lower elementary school.