I tell people I own a cat. Well, he can’t get outside, so it’s a fairly easy call. But some animals are not so easily pinned down…
This Moose Belongs To Me
by Oliver Jeffers
HarperCollins
ISBN: 978 0 00 726387 5
Wilfred one day, by happenstance, becomes, he thinks, the owner of a moose. He is pretty pleased with him as a pet – after all, the moose follows most of Wilfred’s rules for a pet, and the two go off exploring often. Things are going along pretty well when they go farther afield than usual one day, and they run into someone else who also seems to think that the moose is hers, and that is name is not Marcel, but Rodrigo. Upset, he leaves, only to have Marcel find him, and come to a new detente, in a sort of “if you love something, set it free” kind of way that seems to work for them both.
The thing with Oliver Jeffers is that his stories are lovely – quiet, poignant, but still with a sly humour to them – and his quirky but quiet illustrations are a perfect match. The last couple of books, he has started to mesh styles, placing his distinctively flat people against rich backgrounds that look like he’s been slicing up oil paintings for setpieces, and this one has that same muted landscape behind it that works to interesting and charming effect.
I’m always a fan, but this story is a fun one even without his excellent body of work behind him.
I was given “Stuck” as a parting gift by the staff at my school when I left for a 6-month assignment elsewhere. It has been one of the all-time favourite books in my classrooms – I read it aloud to grade one students who giggled and squealed with glee, and my grade 3 students fought over it daily when I put it in my picture book collection – it even has a place of honour in my current grade 5 class. I read it to them at the beginning of the year as the introduction to a discussion of problem solving.
I love Oliver Jeffers’ prose and illustrations – captivating to any audience and the message is delivered with a quiet humour.
I think I’ll be adding “This Moose Belongs to Me” to my library.