If the S in Moose Comes Loose

by Peter Hermann, Matthew Cordell (Illustrator)

Overview

*A Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year*

Spelling has never been so zany! When the S in MOOSE comes loose, Cow must find the missing letters and glue MOOSE back together! Perfect for fans of Michael Hall and Sandra Boynton.

Rollicking, clever, and a great way to have fun with letters, If the S in Moose Comes Loose is a seriously wild ride from start to finish.

When two of Moose’s letters come loose, he vanishes. Poof! But his best friend, Cow, has an idea: she’ll find a G, an L, a U, and an E and glue M-O-O-S-E back together, better than ever! But it’s not as easy as it sounds....

Author Peter Hermann is not only a debut picture book author, he also plays publisher Charles Brooks on TV Land’s hit show Younger. Matthew Cordell is the acclaimed author and illustrator of the 2018 Caldecott winner Wolf in the Snow and has written and/or illustrated dozens of other books for children.

If the S in MOOSE comes loose
and the E breaks free . . . what’s left?
M-O-O!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062295101
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/13/2018
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	905,807
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Peter Hermann is an actor and writer who has loved words that rhyme ever since he recited Shel Silverstein’s “If the World Was Crazy” in his fourth-grade poetry contest. When he’s not rhyming, he plays book publisher Charles Brooks on TV Land’s hit show Younger. He lives in New York with his wife and their three children.

Matthew Cordell is the acclaimed author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winner Wolf in the Snow. He is also the author and illustrator of Cornbread & Poppy and Trouble Gum and the illustrator of If the S in Moose Comes Loose, Toot Toot Zoom!, Mighty Casey, Righty and Lefty, and Toby and the Snowflakes, which was written by his wife. Matthew lives in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, author Julie Halpern, and their two children. You can visit him online at matthewcordell.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/18/2017
After the letters s and e detach themselves from the word moose, Cow’s friend Moose disappears. In order to reaffix the letters and get her friend back, Cow sets out to assemble the word glue. Once actor Hermann sets his first children’s book in motion, it runs like clockwork, though it takes a little effort to stay on top of the action. Cow takes the g from the word goat and replaces it with a b borrowed from a bear asleep in a chair; this turns Goat into a boat, and Bear into an ear. After Cow snags the c from chair, the neighborhood bull loses it: “Bear has vanished into thin air./ And what’s with the ear on that heap of hair?” Cordell (The Only Fish in the Sea) excels at drawing animals in the grip of powerful emotions, but always with the sense that they’re fundamentally decent creatures. Hermann’s verse never skips a beat, and the transformation of everyday objects into new things supplies a string of guffaws. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Allison Cohen, Gersh Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Hermann’s fast-paced romp will likely leave readers laughing and spelling along. Cordell’s illustrations, rendered in pen and ink and watercolor, match the kinetic pace of the tale. His animals are loosely drawn and delightfully expressive.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Little listeners and beginning readers alike will enjoy the rhyme and wordplay.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Cordell (The Only Fish in the Sea) excels at drawing animals in the grip of powerful emotions, but always with the sense that they’re fundamentally decent creatures. Hermann’s verse never skips a beat, and the transformation of everyday objects into new things supplies a string of guffaws.” — Publishers Weekly

“The premise recalls Escoffier’s Where’s the BabOOn? (BCCB 1/16), and Hermann brings an extra helping of high-energy silliness to Cow’s pell-mell procession.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Cordell’s line and watercolor art is zippy perfection, his familiar loose-limbed scribbles adding a sense of barely contained chaos as Cow bipedally scampers through the scenes.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“This is orthographical humor at its best, and it could inspire a freestanding swap-one-letter game once the book closes.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

The premise recalls Escoffier’s Where’s the BabOOn? (BCCB 1/16), and Hermann brings an extra helping of high-energy silliness to Cow’s pell-mell procession.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The premise recalls Escoffier’s Where’s the BabOOn? (BCCB 1/16), and Hermann brings an extra helping of high-energy silliness to Cow’s pell-mell procession.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

01/01/2018
Gr 1–3—Can Cow save his best friend Moose who has vanished when two of his letters come loose? Cow causes lots of trouble as he tries to find a way to replace Moose's missing letters 'S' and 'E'. Silliness oozes from the pages of this rhyming adventure. Confusion and mayhem rule as Cow borrows letters from other animals, especially from "Bear who is asleep in his chair." Bull is not pleased with Cow's shenanigans and he chases him throughout the story. Cordell's simple ink-and-watercolor illustrations aptly portray the animal characters who are fun and likable. Managing to escape from Bull and causing lots of commotion, Cow finally does find the missing letters and Moose returns to the story. VERDICT A fun adventure for a reader who enjoys words, rhyming, and silliness.—Susan Small, Salve Regina University Library, Newport, RI

School Library Journal

2017-12-03
Alphabet mayhem ensues when a cow frantically tries to reattach the last two letters in "moose."COW has only a "gloomy MOO" and is "all alone without her MOOSE, / whose E broke free and whose S came loose." Like any good preschooler, she goes for the GLUE but does not have any of those letters either. She embarks on a wild adventure, borrowing letters (with a bit of larceny thrown in) from a GOAT and a BEAR on a chair. She assembles them in various combinations, to make a BOAT, an EAR, a CAKE, and a LAKE. The letters are rendered as large, three-dimensional capitals, interacting with what they denote in rib-tickling juxtaposition. A bear snoozing in a chair atop the words BEAR CHAIR becomes an ear relaxing in that chair, which now balances on EAR CHAIR. Only angry BULL fails to join in the game, refusing to give up his U. Following the crash of a CART, ART featuring a cart hangs in a museum, but finally Cow has the G, L, U, and E for her GLUE. One more task remains: rounding up the missing S and E to regain her best friend. All ends happily. Hermann's fast-paced romp will likely leave readers laughing and spelling along. Cordell's illustrations, rendered in pen and ink and watercolor, match the kinetic pace of the tale. His animals are loosely drawn and delightfully expressive. Little listeners and beginning readers alike will enjoy the rhyme and wordplay. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews