The Case of the Misplaced Letters! If the S in Moose Comes Loose by Peter Herman

If the S in MOOSE comes loose and the E breaks free...

What's left ? A gloomy MOO from a cow who doesn't know what to do....

What's in a name? If a moose's letters can get loose, what can COW do to protect her MOO?
Cow figures she needs G-L-U-E.

COW figures that if she can glue the S and the E together and then stick them back on the MOO, all their problems will be solved. Is that TRUE?

Er, NO. It's not that easy. COW encounters complications.

"WAIT! I'm out of GLUE!
I'll just spell it! That's what I'll do!"

It's just four little letters, after all. How hard can it be?

But when Cow grabs a G for GLUE from GOAT and then begs a B from BEAR to make Goat a BOAT for the interim, complications arise and hilarity ensues. Bear doesn't care for being an EAR, and Lake is unwilling to share his L and be a CAKE, and HOUSE resolutely refuses to be a HOSE....

"Bummer!" says Cow. "My U fell through."

You can see the problem when Cow tries to play scrabble with everyone's proprietary spelling, in Peter Herman's If the S in Moose Comes Loose (Harper, 2018).  Kids just learning to spell will get some giggles from the re-arranged words, set engagingly within author Herman's jaunty rhymes, with the help of noted artist Matthew Cordell's comic critter characters. Cow finally finagles to help Moose get himself together and restores everyone to their proper orthography--except for the unfortunate Goat, who is still finding it a bit discombobulating being a Boat!

This book has plenty of play with words for primary grade free reading or for readalouds. Says Kirkus Reviews, "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."