Duck, Duck, Moose

January 11, 2010
Winter is coming to New Hampshire, so Duck and Other Duck head south for the winter and invite their pancake-loving friend Moose to come along for the drive. (What, they should fly?) And once Moose sees just how little there is to do with Bear hibernating and the Pancake Hut closed for the season, he takes them up on their offer ("And away they went..."). Of course the car ride in the backseat is interminableâas any kid could have told Mooseâbut once he experiences the joys of Florida (snorkeling, fishing, visiting the Everglades and Cape Canaveral), Moose is devastated when the time comes to return to New Hampshire (his wail of "Noooooooo!" stretches across two pages and several states). This being a book by Horowitz (Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again), the cartooning is as brash and exuberant as the steady flow of vaudevillian silliness. Readers should feel empowered to add their own rim shots after many of the jokes, as when Moose picks his nose in a Florida U-Pick Farmâba-dum-CHING! Ages 5â8.

October 1, 2009
PreS-Gr 2-In a hilarious take on family vacations, two ducks convince a reluctant New Hampshire moose to join them on their migratory car trip to Florida for the winter. A poor sport on the journey, Moose finds the warm, fun-filled sunshine state to be more exciting than he could possibly have imagined. When it's time to return home, a crying Moose is loathe to leave (to the disgust of his duck buddies) but then finds he can create a bit of Florida up north. The delight in this book is in Horowitz's goofy characters. The pencil and charcoal cartoons, digitally colored in bright hues, show an endearing protagonist that youngsters will embrace. Easy enough to read independently, and funny enough for adults to enjoy sharing with children, this book about a road-tripping trio will be welcome in most collections."Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2009
Preschool-G Every young kid who has been dragged along on a road trip will enjoy this simple picture book about Moose, who does not want to leave home in the North Woods and travel with Duck and Other Duck to Florida. Still, he reluctantly agrees to drive with them, even though he hates the traffic jams and could not care less about the famous sights, and he does find plenty of things to enjoy on vacation, from the beach to a pancake house. In fact, he cries when it is time to return home. The scenarios are completely child-friendly (including urgent cries of Ive got to pee! and ambivalence over landmark sites), and the brightly colored artwork, outlined in black pencil and charcoal, show all the fun the friends have together as big Moose follows after the much smaller, authoritative ducks.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)