When I saw the cover of the book, Moe Pea The Moose Grows Up, published by North Country Press and written by Steven Powell, I knew my granddaughter, 5-year old Ada, would love it. Because the cover features a drawing of a moose, and Ada loves moose.
She’s always excited when she sees a moose up to our camp on the edge of Baxter Park. And the illustrations by Alyssa Willey of Moe Pea the moose are wonderful.
Moe Pea’s antlers grow upside down and he is so embarrassed that he hides in the woods so the other moose will stop making fun of him. But then his upside-down antlers are able to save his mother who was pinned under a downed tree. And the other moose stopped making fun of him.
And as the story explains, for the first time in his life, Moe Pea understood that his antlers were a gift, not a curse.
The book is not only a good story but it delivers an important message: “From then on, Moe Pea stood tall and proud. He vowed that he would never make someone else feel bad just because they look different. This was a lesson he had learned well. He knew better.”
Certainly, a great lesson for our kids and grandkids.
This is Steven’s fourth book. Two are novels, and the fourth is another children’s book titled Bear Moonlight Sonata. Now, I’ve got to get that book! He has lived his whole life in mid-coast Maine.
Alyssa Willey lives in her hometown of Warren, and is a substitute teacher as well as working for an afterschool and summer enrichment program.
Now, I eagerly await the next visit of my granddaughters, Ada and Esme, so I can enjoy this book with them.