Sterling: the Lovestruck Moose With a Heart for Cows

True Stories of Animal Heroes

by Vita Murrow, Laivi Poder (Illustrator)

In this new series, based on real-life animal tales, discover that not all heroes wear capes - some have four legs, a wet nose, and a brave heart. Big or small, fall in love with animal friends who have lived truly wild lives.

Read about Sterling, the silly moose, whose love crossed borders. It was the time of disco and flower crowns. The heartbeat of the era reached Sterling, the 1,000 pound moose in his woodsy marsh. His marsh stood by a dairy farm, which was lucky, as Sterling was obsessed with cows. He broke the farmer's fence, ran with them in the paddock, and made new friends - he didn't want to leave! But the farmer wasn't so happy with Sterling... Would he find his way back to his beloved cows?

This heartwarming story has a fact section at the back, so you can learn more about big cats and how you can help them. Stunning nature scenes from Laivi Poder will make you want to dive into the page.

Also in the series is Onyx, based on the reintroduction of wolves of Yellowstone Park. Fluffles, the koala who held strong through a bushfire. And Talala, the leopard cub who found her own family.

32 pages, Hardcover

Published September 7, 2021

About the author

Vita Murrow is currently director of the Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy at the Jewish Community Relations Council. She has worked as a teacher, an educational consultant, and in the films department at the Sesame Workshop. She is also a motion media artist and filmmaker.

Reviews

[The Silvan Reverie | Sarah Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm excited about this True Stories of Animal Heroes series overall. I love the concept of taking these true animal stories of friendship and curious behavior and translating them into a fictionalized narrative accessible for young children. They are so great for animal-loving children. They will be fascinated by the unique circumstances and find joy in the hopeful tales. That said, I'm a little unsure as to why the word "Hero" is used in the title for the series -- the tales mostly seem like heartwarming tales of interesting animal behavior, not necessarily doing heroic acts.

Sterling the moose, for example, is super interested in and affectionate towards cows. One farmer relocates Sterling since the moose keeps breaking the fence of his pasture, but Sterling simply finds another farm and falls "in love" with one particular cow. The story is sweet, though I'm not sure young children will get the reference that Sterling's heart was "all disco and flower crowns and love."

I like this illustrations in this one -- the moose is portrayed as cute and sweet. The book ties in the real life story at the end and includes some notes on how to safeguard the future of the moose population.

It's a fun concept and the stories in this series are sweet.

**Note: I was given a review copy of this book by Quarto Kids. Opinions are my own.

[Linda Galella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stunning artwork and binding but the story is bizarre.

I’m totally enthralled with the quality of the binding on this book. It’s a blast from the past with its heavily textured boards and deeply set pages that will last a lifetime if given just a little care. The artwork borders on impressionistic offering both children and adults many minutes of enjoyment looking for treasures in the beautiful, pastoral settings. The perspective is a bit wonky but hey, it’s fiction!

Where I get less enthusiastic is with the story. It bounces around from 60’s flower power to an absurd preoccupation with the gaseous nature of cows! If it was in some kind of book about saving the earth, I might be convinced but this is a young kid’s book and it’s an animal love story with cow emissions as a motivator?!? Save us, please!

One last pet peeve of mine for which I’m sure to have many detractors, there’s a single example of a male farmer being referred to as “they”. It’s hard enough to teach kids to read and learn proper grammar. I’ve been doing it for over 40 years. Let’s not confuse them at this age.

All things considered, exceptional artwork and production quality; strange story📚

[TammyJo Eckhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The images in this book reminds me of painting with oils in terms of the textures that can be seen -- the plants and animals all looked realistic yet cartoonish at the same time. The story is based on the real adventures of a moose and I found that information at the end of book interesting. The story here though was good but not great, it felt a bit preachy at times, but my test audience liked listening to it and looking at the images. I think animal loving kids would love this book and it could be good practice for a 3rd grader.

[DonutKnow · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an odd story 😂😂 I think it’s funny that a moose befriended some cows, but they can be quite dangerous! 😰😂

[Alonsonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story of a moose finding fartsy cows attractive, weird I know. Anyways loved the art so much.