Moose, Of Course!
This silly, rhyming cumulative tale describes a boy bent on spotting a moose. His strategies include riding a bicycle built for two, in the hopes that a moose will join him (he attracts a goose instead), and dressing up in moose dragAwith red lipstick, stilts and a moose hideAto lure a male moose. After getting snagged by his own moose trap, he's forced to heed the words of several hortatory adults and "do nuthin' "Aand subsequently spies an entire moose family. Rhyming couplets describe the action, followed by a refrain that piles up sound effects and encapsulates the unruly events, from "Bonkity-bonkAA bike built for deuce/ Honkity-honkAA pedaling goose" to the "Pausity-pauseAA bull, calf, and cow/ Gawkity-gawzAA wonderous wow." While the plot here doesn't have the urgency of Plourd's hilarious Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud, children at the younger end of the target age range will enjoy chiming in with the onomatopoeic noises in each refrain. Sollers makes his children's book debut with appropriately lighthearted and freely rendered cartoon illustrations. The boy bears a resemblance to Dennis the Menace, with a horizontal slash under his eyes to contour his face and seemingly boundless energy. Ages 8-10. (Aug.)Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.