School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Using the three words of the title, Bardhan-Quallen tells a story filled with slapstick antics. Two ducks and a moose live together. After spilling his coffee and overturning his chair, Moose is out the door, while the ducks spend the morning cleaning and preparing lunch. When Moose races home, however, he crashes through the living room wall and into the carefully set table. When the birds set up their sculpture and painting, he manages to knock everything over. But after he topples a large, lovely cake they have just decorated, the exasperated ducks banish him from the house. Still the exemplary friends begin again, decorating, cake-making, and then going out to coax Moose to return. He does, to find a surprise party just for him. So all ends well.at least until the final page turn. The bright cartoon illustrations, heavily outlined in black, add to the fun. Spot images across spreads depict the ducks' meticulous cleaning and cake-baking activities. A small view of Moose striding toward the cake, his head in a book, provides youngsters with an opportunity to predict an inevitable disaster before they turn the page. Each scene of havoc appears with "Moose!" written in large colorful letters. Good fun that gives a whole new meaning to the word "duck."-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Klutzy moose cause all sorts of picture-book problems, from Z Is for Moose to Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit, all the way back to If You Give a Moose a Muffin. In this story (not to be confused with Dave Horowitz's 2009 story of the same name), two perfectionist ducks find their tidy house disrupted, repeatedly, by a large antlered fellow whose behavior suggests an impulsive kindergartner. By changing a consonant, Bardhan-Quallen (Pirate Princess) heightens the familiar suspense of the "duck, duck, goose" game; as two white ducks set the table or decorate a layer cake, readers await a crashing entrance by Moose, who demolishes a wall and splatters the dessert. Although written words are few, the story comes across in the punctuation and in Jones's (Here Comes Trouble!) doodly digital art. Like disapproving parents, the ducks must send Moose away (they're planning a surprise party for him); he sulks outside until the ducks apologize, enabling the book to conclude on a final slapstick note. Moose's pratfalls provide short-term entertainment and an opportunity for dramatic read-aloud performances. Ages 3-5. Author's agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
