Caldecott Hopefuls: This Moose Belongs to Me
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 03:21PM 
My Caldecott Hopefuls are picture books I like a lot, for various and idiosyncratic reasons, and not necessarily ones I think will win the award (although one can hope). Here's what I love about This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel, 2012): the contrast between the grandeur and solemnity of the landscape backgrounds (many of them reprinted from paintings by 20th century American artist Alexander Dzigurski) and, well, Wilfred and his moose (as seen in the image above, which wraps around the covers of the book). Now that I think of it, this style of illustration--Jeffers's artistic borrowing--is especially appropriate to a story about ownership (see Caldecott criteria 1.c). Does this moose belong to me?
According to the copyright page, "the art for this book was made from a mishmash of oil painting onto old linotype and painted landscapes, and a bit of technical wizardry thrown into the mix here and there." In case you want to try this at home (yes, you do), Oliver Jeffers has helpfully made a video called How to Draw a Moose. We didn't have any landscape paintings lying around, so we drew our moose (meese? mice?) onto pages ripped from old National Geographics instead. Kind of like this:
Except at Macchu Picchu.
Reader Comments (17)
I thought Jeffers was UK - is he eligible? I wonder what the committee will think about the illustrations being a collage with reprints of old paintings. I'm not a fan of Jeffers in general (although I do love a couple of his books) but I can see how gorgeous the art is now that you've gotten me to take another look!
Hi, Jennifer! You're right, Jeffers is from Northern Ireland--but he's a resident of the US (he lives in Brooklyn), so I think that makes him eligible. This is probably my favorite of his books! And I don't even especially like moose.
Well, whether this book qualifies or not for the Caldecotts, it looks like a beautifully illustrated book.
I too love the juxtaposition of epic alpine scenery and little boy+ moose friend. Thanks, I haven't seen this one yet.
Nice post. My most recent post on my blog is also about this book. It's a review from six-year-old Miriam at http://patzietlowmiller.com/2013/01/10/kid-review-miriam-shares-this-moose-belongs-to-me/
I think there are a lot of good Caldecott contenders this year, and I will very interested in seeing who earns the award and the honors.
This looks tremendously appealing-I must seek it out!
I love the art juxtapostion and the humor of it. Must look this one up.
Greetings! I'm hopping over from the 2013 Comment Challenge. You have a lovely blog. Here's to a fun and productive 2013!
Donna L Martin
Thanks for this post..I will look for this book. I really enjoy his work and this sounds great.
Wonderful review -- and did you know that the moose that once inhabited Minnesota are disappearing? Some researchers say their population is declining as a result of global warming and weakened immune systems. From the Minneapolis Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/local/140169753.html?refer=y
This was one of my favorite books from 2012. I really like the contrast between the oil painted backgrounds which evoked the rustic wilderness of fine art paintings and the illustrated characters of the boy and his moose.
super fun illustration - I'll look for this now.
Thanks!
And thanks as well for being part of the Comment Challenge!
best,
Lee
This looks amazing! Thanks for pointing it out.
Thanks for your comments, everyone! I hope you like This Moose Belongs to Me--please come back and let me know! In the meantime, I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs, too.
Oooo....I just got an email that this has arrived for me at my local library. I can't wait to read it now!
What a beautiful cover. Thanks for the moose drawing link.
Oliver Jeffers is one of my favorite illustrators, but somehow I was not aware of this book until I read your post. I work in a library in Maine, so moose books are very popular! Thanks for reviewing it--I will keep an eye out for it for sure.