THE INVISIBLE MOOSE

In this unapologetically goofy story, a young Canadian he-moose falls for a beautiful she-moose not only because of her lovely exterior but also because she’s kind. One day, just when the shy he-moose (with unusual, question-mark-shaped antlers) has mustered the courage to speak to his beloved, the evil trapper Steel McSteal nets her and hauls her off to New York City to display her for profit. Devastated, the he-moose vows to rescue her. Thanks to the owly Professor McFowl, he drinks an invisibility potion (to sneak by hunters) and heads south to Manhattan. Many comical invisible-moose scenes ensue, but the funniest is perhaps the depiction of a snowy, small-town Canadian border crossing with a sign that says “Remove your socks at once and place them on the nuclear detection belt” and a lone door stuck in the snow marked “Keep out.” Kellogg’s vibrantly colorful illustrations are sweet and wonderful, bursting with tearful and hilarious moments alike. The inner-beauty-trumps-outer-beauty theme is clumsily wrought, but this pleasingly corny moose romance is charming nonetheless. (Picture book. 5-8)