What About Moose?

What About Moose?
Written by Corey Rosen Schwartz & Rebecca J. Gomez
Illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-1481404969
Publisher: Atheneum
Date of publication: June 9, 2015
Age: 4 - 8 years

Themes: friendship, teamwork, bossiness, frustration

When Fox, Toad, Bear, Porcupine, and Skunk set out to build a tree house, they know just what to do: they'll follow a plan and work as a team. But when bossy Moose barges in and upends their plans with some of his own, his friends become more and more frustrated… Will they all be able to work together? What about Moose?

Another impressive book from Corey Rosen Schwartz (and Rebecca J. Gomez!) with completely adorable illustrations from Yamaguchi. While my favorites will still be Schwartz's ninja fairy tales, this book has a pretty valuable lesson on teamwork. It does a great job of showing how it makes others feel when one person is overly bossy. Even I got annoyed with Moose while reading. The redemption at the end is extra sweet because of it.

The fact that this story is told with an impressive rhyming scheme is just another plus. Do note, however, that it does include some pretty complex vocabulary (such as "dictator"—which they also rhymed!) and it's not laid out in perfect rhyming blocks. For instance, continuations of rhymes occur over a turn of a page. I had to read it twice to get the rhythm down (which is important when reading aloud).

In the end, I wish it had more humor and had made me laugh. While not my favorite, I'd still recommend it. If just for how adorable the animal illustrations are (oh my gosh, the toad!).

Find it at your library or on Amazon

(I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review)