• Who's Reading What on Wednesdays?

This Moose Belongs To Me | December 5, 2012

by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel/Penguin Young readers, Nov. 2012)

Marcel the moose belongs to Wilfred. This much is certain. It came to Wilfred after all, and Wilfred “just KNEW that it was meant to be his.” Wilfred is generally happy to own the moose, except the moose just doesn’t follow all of Wilfred’s rules. It keeps ignoring Rule 7: “going whichever way Wilfred wants to go” and Rule 7 [subsection b]: “Maintaining a certain proximity to home”.  Then, one day on a walk far from a certain proximity to home, an old lady greets the moose as Rodrigo, and Wilfred is shocked to learn that she thinks she owns the moose! In the faux drama that follows, Wilfred learns to lower his demands on others, and the moose follows Rule 73 brilliantly: “Rescuing your owner from perilous situations”.

You can’t discuss this book without touching upon Jeffer’s beautiful artwork. Suspenders and bow tie Wilfred is made all the more ridiculous, his words and thoughts set into illustrated word bubbles, beside the massive, oblivious moose. And all of it is accompanied by gorgeous mountain range backdrops that conjure ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and add an element of tongue-in-cheek solemnity to the proceedings. This is the kind of picture book you buy for a child, but only so you can read it when they’re done.

Learn more about this title