Moose, Goose, and Mouse

by Mordicai Gerstein, Jeff Mack (Illustrator)

Overview

A roving, rhyming tale about three friends in search of the perfect new home. Giggles guaranteed!

Moose, Goose, and Mouse need a new house, so they set off in search of one. But when their caboose comes loose, they're off on a wild adventure—with a perfect surprise waiting at the end.

The rollicking story is a delight to read aloud, paired with boldly-colored, expressive illustrations. This zany friendship tale is sure to be a favorite.

Author Mordicai Gerstein, Caldecott medalist, was a four-time New York Times best illustrated book winner. Moose, Goose, and Mouse is the culmination of the humor, wit, and joy that he brought to all of his books. A heartfelt letter from Jeff Mack, who worked with Gerstein to finish the art, celebrates the legacy of this talented artist.

With fun rhymes, wordplay, and alliteration, Moose, Goose, and Mouse promotes foundational skills for young readers. Officially leveled using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System, Moose Goose, and Mouse is a Level I book, perfect for late first-grade readers.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823451326
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Mordicai Gerstein (1935-2019) was the author and illustrator of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, winner of the Caldecott Medal. Four of his books have been named New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year. As a child, Gerstein was inspired by reproductions of fine art that his mother cut out of Life magazine and by children's books from the library: "I looked at Rembrandt and Superman, Matisse and Bugs Bunny, and began to make my own pictures." After attending Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, he was hired by an animated cartoon studio where he designed characters and thought up ideas for TV commercials.

Jeff Mack is the author and illustrator of many books for young readers, including Just a Story, Hush Little Polar Bear, Good News, Bad News, and Clueless McGee. He has also illustrated award winning picture books and chapter books such as Eve Bunting's Hurry! Hurry! and James Howe's Bunnicula and Friends. He lives in Western Massachusetts.

Hometown:

Northhampton, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

November 25, 1935

Place of Birth:

Los Angeles, California

Education:

Chouinard Institute of Art

Website:

http://www.mordicaigerstein.com

Editorial Reviews

11/02/2020

This bubbly early reader by the late Caldecott Medalist, with colorwork completed by Mack (Just a Story), imagines three animal housemates looking for a new place to live. Green Moose has wavy antlers and wobbly legs, blue Goose has an undulating neck, and hot pink Mouse’s tail resembles a tightly coiled watch spring. Their home is a mess, with wonky windows and the door off its hinges; it’s “wet and old,” “full of mold,” and “very cold!” And what they seek is modest: a house that’s “sunny” and “funny” and features “a bunny.” A loose caboose and a precipitous hill lead to an unexpected home in an unexpected place—one that fulfills all their requirements. The text hews to early reader style, with rhymes that make it easy to guess which words are coming, and there’s enough bonkers activity that the pages almost turn themselves. Gerstein’s sweet-tempered, sunny view of life shines through this story of a group of creatures who promptly realize that what seems like a chaotic accident is actually the home they’ve been looking for. Ages 3–7. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"[A] buoyant and uncomplicated tale of animal hijinks related in bouncy read-aloud rhymes."—The Wall Street Journal

★ "The plot is simple, allowing the rhyming wordplay and illustrations to be the true stars of the show, combining into a sublime reading experience. Young readers who enjoy noodlehead stories and playing with language will delight in the goofy rhymes and zany story. . . . Madcap humor at its finest."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Simple sentences with predictable structures and plenty of rhyme will both support independent readers and make for comedic read-alouds. Fans of Jan Thomas’s picture books and Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie series will happily befriend this trio of whimsical creatures in their delightfully slapstick adventure." —The Horn Book

"Gerstein's sweet-tempered, sunny view of life shines through this story of a group of creatures who promptly realize that what seems like a chaotic accident is actually the home they've been looking for."—Publishers Weekly

"this title combines rhyming text that encourages identification of words by young readers and invites 'all aboard!' for a thrill ride with a gleeful threesome." —School Library Journal

 "As Moose, Goose, and Mouse reaches its final destination, it carries the message that problems can be solved and that friendship—including Gerstein and Mack's—can lead somewhere beautiful. . . . a giddy runaway-train story powered by rhymes and daffiness."—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

12/01/2020

PreS-K—"Moose, Goose, and Mouse had a house," where the roof leaks every time it rains. Patches show on rickety ceilings and walls, and water drips endlessly into anything that holds water: a tub, a pot, a bucket, a boot, or a cup. The house is wet, old, and moldy. All three shiver with cold, wishing earnestly for a sunny, funny house (or even one with a bunny). And so they decide to take a train in the rain to look for a new home. Ink, pencil, and watercolor illustrations on paper and digital collage feature the trio of whimsical cartoon figures in scenes that invite readers to investigate detail and allow questions and inference. The three board a train caboose headed up a steep slope, but suddenly a bow-tied rope connecting the car gives way. Off runs the loose caboose to the right, compelling readers to turn the page. A line of text follows the trio as a creative twist on a normal train ride resembles a roller coaster out of control—visual momentum of text and caboose up and down, up and down, over hill and downhill until movement stops in a sunny, happy place where all feel at home. VERDICT A suggested purchase for all libraries, this title combines rhyming text that encourages identification of words by young readers and invites "all aboard!" for a thrill ride with a gleeful threesome.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano I.S.D., TX

School Library Journal

★ 2020-11-10
House-hunting has never been so much fun.

Housemates Moose, Goose, and Mouse are in desperate need of a home upgrade; their current abode is wet, cold, and moldy. The pals are set on finding new digs and create a relatively simple list of requirements as guidance: Mouse wants a home that’s sunny; Moose wants to live somewhere funny; Goose requires that it come with a bunny. (In this market? Oy vey!) An exploratory train ride is the impetus for a runaway adventure (literally) that leads the threesome to the unexpected home of their dreams. The plot is simple, allowing the rhyming wordplay and illustrations to be the true stars of the show, combining into a sublime reading experience. Young readers who enjoy noodlehead stories and playing with language will delight in the goofy rhymes and zany story. The scratchy cartoon artwork, reminiscent of animator Jay Ward’s work on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, enhances the text, the boldly (and singularly) colored characters inhabiting a world with detailed backgrounds that cry out for closer examination. Here’s hoping Mack, who oversaw completion of the illustrations after Gerstein’s passing according to his concluding note, will be inspired to revisit the characters, as this is a trio readers will hope to meet again and again. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 67% of actual size.)

Madcap humor at its finest. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews