The Useful Moose: A Truthful, Moose-Full Tale

by Fiona Robinson

What use is a moose? A young girl and her family find out Molly loves moose—not the dessert, the animal. Imagine her surprise when on a family trip to Alaska she can't find any because they've all gone on vacation—to her home city! When Molly returns, she befriends a forlorn moose threesome exhausted from their urban adventures and she and her parents take the moose in. Once rested, the moose prove to be using their antlers as drying racks, pasta servers, clotheslines, and much more. Eventually the call of the wild summons them back to their real home. Will the domestic dynamos ever return? Or will Molly be mooseless? Exciting newcomer Fiona Robinson brings a terrific sense of humor and great imagination to this perfect story-hour book, with lots of funny visual jokes.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Juvenile

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story reminds me of listening to a child make up and tell their own story: Cute when you witness and hear it, not so great when you have to read it. It wasn’t too hard to get through, just not my cup of tea. The book is about a girl who befriends three moose that come to live in her family’s house. They eventually return home and then the story focuses on their attempts to stay in touch.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

From School Library Journal:
Kindergarten-Grade 2 - Molly's tale begins, "Some children like cats. Some children like dogs. I like moose." After traveling to Alaska with her family to see these animals, the girl discovers that they are all vacationing in her own city. Back home, Molly overhears three young moose complaining about their aching feet and invites them to her apartment. They soon exhibit their exceptional housekeeping skills ("Monty was a great cook. Munroe was a fantastic washer-upper. Milligan and Monty were terrific at dryng laundry. And Munroe was wonderful at winding wool"). Inevitably, the animals get homesick and return to Alaska, but send their friend postcards and even drop in for a surprise appearance at her birthday party. On the last page, Molly changes her beginning statement to, "I love moose!" The textured oil paintings are done in cartoon style and reinforce the mood and action of the story. Children will love examining and discussing the humorously exaggerated pictures. With its broad and comical appeal, this original picture book is an excellent choice for individual or group readings. - Jessi Platt

[Erika Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Book Summary in your own words
A young girl, obsessed with moose, invites three moose home with her to live in her house. They rest up from their journey and then they make themselves useful. Between their housekeeping efforts and their loving friendship with the girl, this is a very warm-hearted story.
2. Grade level, interest level, lexile
Grades: PreK-2
3. Appropriate classroom use (subject area)
Friendship, Kindness, Helpfulness
4. Individual students who might benefit from reading
Students who might also like moose. Students who want to help out around the house.
5. Small group use (literature circles)
In small groups, students will discuss the different chores the moose help with.
6. Whole class use (read aloud)
As a whole class, we will discuss our friendships and how we help each other. Then we will discuss how we can help out at home.
7. Related books in genre/subject or content area
Moose and Goose by Marc Brown
8. Multimedia connections (audio book, movie) available
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xJnW...

[Sara Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of moose, I couldn't help but pick this one up. And it kept me laughing from page one. A silly story about a girl who loves moose and the three moose that stay with her after they tire from sightseeing, this one will delight children of all ages.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moose are like hippos - there are a surprising number of picture books featuring them! I've had fun doing Moose storytimes before, and this one could be added to the list for my older crowd (it's a bit long for my toddlers). The moose get up to some silly shenanigans as they are helping out. Not a classic, but would be a solid addition to the theme.

Yes, I put this on my Friends and Moving shelves as well. It could be a good one to add to reading lists/storytimes about keeping in touch with faraway friends (a common theme working on a military base, where friends are always moving).

[June · Rating 2 out of 5]

Molly loves moose, and befriends a trio of them.

This book with intriguing illustrations (my library-sale copy is signed and includes the sketch of a moosehead under Fiona's name) is interesting enough, but the jokes and implications fly over the tops of the heads of preschoolers.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moose can't do stuff like that!

It was good enough.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels like you are reading a child's stream of conscious.

But I bet with the right reader kids would get a kick out of this story.

[Megan Cureton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molly loves moose, but she has never seen one. So for vacation, her mom and dad took her to Alaska to see some. To Molly's surprise, she didn't see one moose. She climbed to the top of a tree to get a better view and started speaking to a goose. The goose told her that the moose have went on vacation to the city. Molly was ecstatic when she returned home to find hundreds of moose roaming the streets. She noticed three that weren't having such a good time. They told her how they needed a place to rest because their hooves were aching so Molly took them home. They slept for eight days straight and when they woke up, they wanted to do something kind for them because they were kind to them. So they started cleaning. Monty was a great cook, Munroe was a fantastic washer-upper, and they could do plenty of other things. When they were watching TV one day, they saw their mom and dad on there and suddenly got home sick so they set off for their home. They continued to communicate with Molly and when Molly sent them an invitation to her birthday, she thought they didn't come because they had forgot about her. But to Molly's surprise they came barreling in from an airplane and made it to her party. I thought this book was very humorous and interesting. My favorite part was when the moose landed in the middle of Molly's party after jumping out of an airplane. I really like this book because it puts emphasis on it being okay to be different. For example, twice in the book it mentions that some children like cats, and some may like dogs, but she loves moose. It shows children that it is okay to venture out and be different and like different things than everyone else. It shows children that it is okay to like their own animal, even if it isn't the norm. I also like the illustrations in this story. The use of bold colors stand out and really caught my eye. I like how the illustrations follow the text on each page very closely and have a bunch of details in them. I also like how the illustrations have some details in them that the text does not mention. As a reader, you wouldn't pick up on this detail and extra information if you didn't examine the illustrations. I would have this book in my classroom library for kindergarten through third graders. I think they would get inspired from this book and want to learn about the less known animals in the world.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very silly story about a little girl who has a fixation on moose. Her room is filled with moose-themed items and she even convinces her parents to take her to Alaska to see moose. The family discovers that the moose have gone on vacation to the city. And the story just gets weirder and weirder as it progresses. The narrative is fun to read aloud and the illustrations are colorful and cartoonish. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Jennifer Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't care for this book. It talks a b out a girl who loves moose. She invites some into h e r house. Since doing that the moose want to say thanks and help clean the house..which is great,but it moves to the girl missing her moose friends when they return and how she wants them to come to her birthday party. So really only 4-5 pages talks about how the moose is "useful" or at least, by my expectations, helpful.

I don't expect to read this book again...

[Leah Behr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good. The kids didn't connect to it. Not that funny. Mediocre writing. As a 7th grade writing teacher, I definitely have at least one student who could do better than this each year.

[Melissa Housholder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molly loves moose, kind of like me. All she wants is to see one in person. She not only gets to see one, she gets to see hundreds, and three come to live with her! The moose are very helpful around the house, but eventually get homesick and head back home. This is a fun book, it really helps drill in the idea of moose being used as a singular and plural noun.

[Lucia Benzor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one of those weird, ridiculous books that you were surprised to love. The illustrations were okay but the story was so cool. I wanted moose too! What a cool way to talk about the animals kids love and how they would be 'useful' to them like the moose were to their biggest fan.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young girl who loves moose is delighted to find them vacationing in her city, and when she and her family invite three young moose to rest at their home, they quickly discover how useful moose can be.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uh, what...?

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very silly story about a girl who befriends some moose and invites them to stay at her house. You can't think too hard about this story, but it's very funny and cute.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could never warm up to this story. Not sure why I didn't like it. I think I thought it was overly silly, even with it being a kids book.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really bizarre. I don't feel like the title is good for the story. The illustrations were great, though.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story. The more we read it, the more we like it.