Moose, Goose, and Mouse

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.)

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

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