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MOOSE GOOSE AND LITTLE NOBODY

Name: MOOSE GOOSE AND LITTLE NOBODY
Author: Ellen Raskin
ISBN: 0590321633

by Ellen Raskin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1974

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One day a big wind blew. Trees fell and a gas pump flew. From somewhere a red roof spun through the air and came down with a BUMP!" From that relatively straightforward introduction Raskin launches into one of her nonsensical plays on the sound and sight and independent existence of words. The gas pump and red roof (the latter, really a sort of detached attic, inhabited by a young mouse) land effectively in the laps of a moose and a goose — who, reading the sign, decide that their small visitor must be a gas. ("Hello Gas.") Mouse's protests (he thinks he's a Moose, but the others know better) send all three on a search for his mother, his house and his name, and different signs and structures along the way suggest to Moose and Goose that the mouse is a lion, a phone, a bus, a mail and a stop. (This last is Goose's conclusion, though Moose argues, "No, no, his name is Go.") Children, more in touch than literate adults are with words as physical objects, will probably find all this funnier than we do — but it's justified at any level by the turnabout that follows: when the three finally do come to a small, roofless red house complete with waiting mother, Goose and Moose are sure that their friend is a snow — an error easily understood when you see the arrow-shaped sign labeled "mouse" turned upside down, and easily remedied when the now happy mouse, no longer a nobody, turns it right side round. Demonstrating not only the satisfaction of having a home, a mother, and an identity and the importance of words in providing the last of the three, but proving also Raskin's ability (less evident in Who Said Sue and Moe Q. McGlutch) to inform her silly situations and crisp, witty pictures with some unobtrusive psychological substance.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1974

ISBN: 0590321633

Page Count: 58

Publisher: Parents Magazine Press

Review Posted Online: May 8, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1974

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WESTING GAME
by Ellen Raskin

- BOOK REVIEW
TWENTY-TWO, TWENTY-THREE
by Ellen Raskin

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TATTOOED POTATO AND OTHER CLUES
illustrated by Ellen Raskin

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

by Josh Schneider & illustrated by Josh Schneider ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2011

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Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ULTRABOT'S FIRST PLAYDATE
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

- BOOK REVIEW
KID AMAZING VS. THE BLOB
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERYBODY SLEEPS (BUT NOT FRED)
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

A nice but not requisite purchase.

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A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)