Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Misfit moose defies expectations in funny movie-shoot tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
A moose is ready for his close up at a film shoot in the wild. "This is a moose," says an unseen narrator. But at the turn of the page, we see the moose in a space helmet (antlers protruding), and the narrator says, "This moose wants to be an astronaut." "Cut!" yells the director, who turns out to be a duck. "Excuse me, but moose cannot be astronauts." He tries Take Two, but it's interrupted by the moose's grandmother, who reveals that when she was his age, she wanted to be a lacrosse goalie. Take Three gets interrupted by a giraffe who says he always wanted to be a doctor. The silliness and mayhem continue, until the very frustrated duck screams, "Will somebody please find me an animal that acts like it's supposed to!!!" Then he looks around at his diverse film crew, which includes an elephant, monkey, kangaroo, bear, and more and says softly, "Oh." Then they all join in on the moose's impossible space mission.
Is It Any Good?
THIS IS A MOOSE is a whole lot of silly with a wonderful message: Follow your dreams and don't let others define you and your limitations. With humor and wonderfully comic illustrations, kids get the idea that they can be whoever they want to be.
Illustrator Tom Lichtenheld showed in Steam Train, Dream Train how wonderfully he draws animals, and there's an impressive array here in the diverse film crew, not to mention the beret-wearing, megaphone-wielding duck director.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about bias. Has anyone ever told you you couldn't do something because you're a girl? Or a boy?
What makes this book funny? Is it the words or the illustrations?
Have you ever thought about doing something that folks like you don't usually do? What is it? Will you care what anyone else thinks of your choice?
Book Details
- Author: Richard T. Morris
- Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Arts and Dance , Space and Aliens , Wild Animals
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date: May 2, 2014
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 3 - 6
- Number of pages: 48
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated: May 14, 2020
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
What to Read Next
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate