Review - It's a Moose!

It's a Moose!
by Meg Rosoff
illustrated by David Ercolini
Date: 2020
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

A baby that is different from all the others brings a family great joy until he grows too big for their home.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This ridiculous story perpetuates the notion that you get a baby from the hospital nursery much like one would get a loaf of bread from the bakery. An idiotic family gets a new baby and don't realize it's a moose. (How the baby moose ended up in the nursery is never explained.) They treat the thing like a human, and it grows up with the family. But soon it gets too big for its suburban life and it seems sad. So the family takes it out to the forest and abandons it there. They later receive a postcard from their moose friend (who can apparently read and write).

I sincerely hope that no children are traumatized by this. "If I feel sad, Mom and Dad might dump me in the woods!" The theme of abandonment is totally inappropriate for a children's book. While I can get behind the message of "wild animals belong in the wild", it doesn't work here as the poor moose is domesticated and anthropomorphized to a ridiculous degree. Will this pampered moose be able to survive his first winter in the woods? Who knows?

The illustrations are fine for what they are. The family looks suitably clueless (while everybody else stares, probably wondering what the heck is wrong with these idiots).

Skip this one, unless you want to spend a lot of time reassuring your kids that you won't abandon them in the woods if they feel sad.

Premise: 1/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5