Hornbeam All In
Three Small Stories about One Large Moose
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
It’s three stories in one picture book as Hornbeam the moose embarks on adventures with his friends in this first installment in the series from the creative team behind the Gooseberry Park, Motor Mouse, and the Mr. Putter & Tabby books!
Hornbeam is a charismatic moose who loves puzzles and potato salad and, most of all, his friends. Come join the pals on their many adventures!
In “Eureka and the Picnic,” Hornbeam’s best goose friend, Eureka, invites him to a picnic. Hornbeam is looking forward to the potato salad, but with hundreds of geese relatives looking to chat, will he ever get a bite?
In “Sleeping at Cuddy’s House,” Hornbeam sleeps over at his friend Cuddy the bull’s house. Cuddy is happy to have him but finds out Hornbeam is a very loud snorer. Cuddy tries everything to stop the snoring, but to no avail. What is a sleepy bull to do?
In “At the Pool with Adorabelle,” Hornbeam, Eureka, and Cuddy go to cheer on their skunk friend Adorabelle at her swim race. Hornbeam can’t swim, so Adorabelle offers to give him swimming lessons. With some help from his pals, can Hornbeam face his fears and brave the pool?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A cautious moose named Hornbeam stars in this warmly rendered series kickoff comprising three gently comedic stories by Rylant and Howard, cocreators of the Motor Mouse books. Expressive colored pencil, watercolor, and gouache spreads capture Hornbeam's reactions, zeroing in throughout the first tale on the moose's apprehension as he and friend Eureka the goose head to a picnic that features more warmth, but less potato salad, than Hornbeam had anticipated. The protagonist sleeps—and snores—through most of the second story: when Hornbeam's furnace stops working during a snowstorm, his overnight host Cuddy the cow graciously chooses to make the best of a sleepless night. The final tale traces the ripples created when Hornbeam's skunk friend Adorabelle, an enthusiastic swimmer, insists that he learn to swim. In a moving moment that renders this story particularly strong, Hornbeam bravely "put a foot into the water. Then another foot. Then his whole moose self. Hornbeam was all in." His persistence, and his friends' support, earns him a skill and gives him something to be proud of. The creators plunge into the stories with characters and situations that are immediately relatable, and readers will follow Hornbeam wherever he goes. Ages up to 8.
