Saturday, March 29, 2014

Book Review: Musk Ox Counts by Erin Cabatingan

Pick up any picture book and there is a pretty good chance that at least one of the characters will be a monkey, a cat, a dog, a horse, a pig, a cow, or a bird--really, any animal you might name when singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm."  But, what about the poor old musk ox?  How often do you find this arctic mammal, known for its musky odor and thick mane of hair, in a children's story?  The fact of the matter is that musk oxen are severely underrepresented in children's literature.  It's a good thing, then, that author Erin Cabatingan and illustrator Matthew Myers have made it their personal mission to raise awareness about this malodorous creature, so that, maybe one day, a child will think to sing "Old McDonald had a musk ox..."


 A is for Musk Ox hit the shelves in 2012, throwing the predictability of the standard alphabet book out the window.  Orderly Zebra is trying to demonstrate the alphabet with words that make sense: "A is for apple" and "B is for baby."  Musk Ox has other plans and goofs up every page, yet somehow successfully rationalizes an alphabet that involves him for each letter.  It is a creative and hilarious adventure through the alphabet that challenges children to follow Musk Ox's startling logic.

Even more, for those fans who did not get enough of Musk Ox and Zebra's disaster-riddled collaboration teaching the alphabet, they can now check out Musk Ox Counts for an even more circuitous endeavor: counting to ten.  Musk Ox requests to be on the first page, but ends up feeling too lonely to represent the number one, so he moves onto the second page.  This then creates mass confusion among the two yaks who are there to represent the number two, because now there is a third animal on the page.  Let me tell you, this counting book gets ridiculous!  Happily, though, we can all rest easier that the famous musk ox disparity in children's literature is quickly disappearing.

-Miss Ashley

P.S. After reading these two picture books, be sure to check out a non-fiction book about musk oxen.  You might be surprised to learn that they've got a lot more going for them than just their aroma.




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