4☆ A Sweet Festive Children's Book.

The Legend of Chris Moose is a charming Children's Picture Book that was beautifully illustrated and was written in wonderful rhyme.

I loved this sweet story. It's a story about a Moose called Ugly who feels left out and feels Ugly compared to all his friends.

But it's Christmas Day and one by one he takes all his animal friends to the Bears Christmas Party.
However when they get there Bear has overslept.
So they all muck In and help tidy up getting the place ready for a party.
But Moose is too big and once again left out.

That is until they realise they need his help and Moose saves the day and becomes the most beautiful Moose.
How does he save the day?.... you will just have to read it to find out!
This beautifully festive Children's Book is all about being kind, helping each other, not leaving anyone out and sharing. At first I was a little apprehensive of the word Ugly in a Children's Book but once you read the storyline you have an understanding of the Authors moral to the story.
I adored how the book was written in rhyming verse and I think it will capture children's attention perfectly.

The Legend of Chris Moose is a sweet Christmas Story and would be suited for readers aged 4-6years.

A great little read! I wouldn't say it was amazing, but it was an enjoyable read with some great messages throughout too!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was story was mostly just meh for me. The pictures were sort of cute. The story seemed a bit rushed.

Not the book I had hoped it would be. It barely kept my daughter’s attention. The concept is good, the storytelling was lacking in movement, leaving the reader without the feeling of wanting more.

Loved the story and illustrations! I have read this to/with several young children, up to age 10, and all enjoyed the story. It reinforces the ability of friendship to overcome many differences and that friends come in all shapes and sizes. If you've never seen a young moose, you don't know how an animal can be ugly and cute at the same time. Allen Northcutt has done an excellent job of writing a new favorite for many children.

This is a cute children's book, but I had issues with the story. I seem to be in the minority here, but how exactly did this moose get his name?

The text states and seems to agree that Ugly the moose is indeed 'ugly' in the quote, "Yes, he was ugly" and that was niggle #1 for me, because Ugly is such a negative word, especially for kids, and surely Ugly isn't ugly at all which is the first thing my five-year-old said. It isn't healthy for anyone to feel that way about themselves and it isn't clear whether Ugly's self-esteem is ever repaired.

Niggle #2 for me was that that poor moose stands outside looking in at all of his friends during the Christmas party, but he can't go in because he won't fit in the house. His friends don't have a tree, so they use Ugly's antlers and then the text says, "Ugly became a sight to behold." Then they decide to change his name after they dress up his antlers with ornaments and garland. If his friends love him so much, why is his name not changed before he's lit up like a Christmas tree? Now he's worthy of a name change because he's beautiful or because he helped? This is confusing and to me sends the wrong message.

I don't think there's enough to show how Ugly's friends care for and appreciate him. The story is all about this Christmas party and what everyone's bringing.That's what feels missing to me. I'm probably being too analytical, and I know this is a children's book, but this is what I didn't like. It's a book for children that seems problematic to me.

On the positive side, I enjoyed the rhyming text and the cute illustrations. It reads along like "Twas the night before Christmas" which was neat. I appreciated that Ugly gets a name change and that he is kind by offering himself to be used as a tree. I also feel that this book has lesson potential as long as adults are available to explain while reading along with younger children.

These are just my personal opinions. Definitely check out this children's Christmas book to see if it's one you might enjoy.

2**

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Chris Moose follows an “ugly duckling” storyline about a moose that isn’t so handsome, in fact he’s feeling quite down on himself as the other characters in the story actually call him "Ugly". When I started this book, I almost put it down. Fortunately it redeemed itself somewhat in the end. I see part of the message being that the others liked Chris because of what he could do to help them, not because of who he was. My grandchildren did not seem to notice that. My grandson commented right away that the other animals were mean to Ugly, and he cheered when they finally changed his name and accepted him.

The woodland creatures are not very nice to Ugly at all. It is Christmas time in the forest and all the animals are heading to Momma and Pappa Bear’s house for Christmas. When they arrive they find Momma Bear and Pappa Bear are upset because they overslept and nothing is ready for the Christmas celebration. Ugly the Moose helps all his friends get whatever they need to the Bear's home and when it comes time for the final preparation, he steps up for a big surprise. There is a huge moral to this story, ugly names are hurtful and everyone wants to be included and to feel useful. Tie all this up in a Christmas ribbon and the message is delivered in a fun way. The story is told in a rhyming way, but the cadence is not always followed. The illustrations are beautiful. They are large, colourful and fun. Children will really enjoy them. I am not sure whether I would purchase a print copy of this book for my Christmas library or not, but I can see this book being useful in a classroom where there are issues of teasing, name calling, and bullying. The publisher, BooksGoSocial, provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas, and opinions shared are my own.

Because this was an ebook picture book, I could not change the font size, but the pictures were well lined up.

The rhyming was forced and difficult. This is definitely not equal to a Dr. Seuss rhyming. On the other hand, the story is sweet and the moral is apt. Ugly names are hurtful and everyone wants to be included and to feel useful.

I look forward to reading this to my grandchildren the next time they visit.

This is the only book that has been released by author Allen Northcutt. I hope he creates more children’s books in the future.

Note: While I received this book as a gifted copy via NetGalley, my opinions are my own and are given freely.

This is a cute, heartwarming story of friendship at Christmas. The illustrations are probably the best thing about it, full of colour and warmth. My children enjoyed it a lot.

This was a cute Christmas story. My son did not enjoy it immensely but it had a good message. Thanks to BooksGoSocial and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Small children are likely to enjoy Christie Morris’ brightly and cheerfully rendered forest animals and caregivers will find them useful for generating vocabulary-building conversation as the pages are turned. There are positive messages about friends working together and names not defining who you are. But the text is forced and contrived, the rhythm is not clear or smooth, and there is some word and phrase redundancy that I found off-putting. Maybe it was the poor rendering into digital format, but I don’t think that was the whole problem. If Christmas books are your passion, buy it if it isn’t too costly, but if you already have plenty of holiday books for your 3 to 6 year olds, you can skip this one.

This book was very cute. My 8 yr old grand daughter read it too me. She liked the book too. It was a great book for a first grader to read without problems. We really liked the story of the Christmas Moose.

I have not had good luck with holiday picture books this year. This is just another boring, rushed, ugly book seemingly trotted out just to make a quick buck at Christmas.

First of all, if you're going to write a rhyming story, you need to do more than just rhyme the last words of the second and fourth lines. The meter was way off for most of this book, and it would be pretty awkward to read aloud as a result.

Second, the illustrations are awful. They look like someone drew a bunch of characters on their computer, cut them out and slapped them on backgrounds (not even bothering to clean up the rough edges), and then cranked the saturation sliders up to 100. The pictures are not pleasant to look at. At all.

Third, while I appreciate that the author was trying to make the point about not using ugly nicknames on our friends, the fact of the matter is that the moose's name was Ugly. All the animals getting judgmental about a name that, perhaps, his own parents gave him is pretty arrogant. Why did he need a new name? Because the other animals thought he did? (They called it his "bad old name" at one point.) I don't think that sends a great message to kids who have unusual names they might be teased about. (It's true that Ugly didn't like his name, but when the time came for the change, it was all the other animals who decided it was time, and even came up with the name for him.)

Fourth, I was kind of disturbed by how Ugly was used by his friends as a piece of home decor. Yes, he volunteered, but it still struck me as kind of creepy... like someone with limited mental capacity trying to make friends by letting themselves be used and abused. It made me pretty uncomfortable.

So I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. There are better stories about acceptance and friendship that don't rely on the idea of having to change a part of yourself (like your name) to suit your friends' tastes. Those stories also wouldn't force the main character into being a makeshift Christmas tree to be included.

This is a sweet holiday story. If your child enjoys animals then this is a book for you. Many different animal friends are included. We liked it is a little different as well as having some of the same elements you expect from a holiday story. It includes some rhyming words too helping with early reading. It is another book to add to the holiday family reading rotation.

Ugly the Moose really hated his name. He had friends, but he wanted to be more a part of what was going on. He was too big to fit into the house that all his friends were having a party at. Poppa Bear had slept through getting the tree and there was nothing to be done. It would take to long to get to the tree.
But Ugly has an idea, and he might just save Christmas for all of his friends!!

Great book! I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading it to my sons.

A book about the transformative time of Christmas – and here, of course, the transformation is done by a host of animals who all think of their friendly neighbourhood moose as Ugly. Ugly by name, if not by nature, he takes all the animals to the bears' residence for a party, and there's a laugh to be had whatever your tastes at seeing them all perched across the width of his antlers. But still he feels left out… The fact the title of the book calls him Chris and not Ugly kind of gives the story away about whether or not he does prove to fit in, but the way he does is cute and original, although surely very draughty for all involved. The second moral is about not needing a present for the season, if you can make sure your presence is enough. Pleasant, if not brilliant – the rhyming is fine, but the meter awkward with the lines getting longer and longer throughout. Four stars is a tad generous, but hey – it's that season.

What a sweet children's book. The illustrations are very bright and beautiful to hold a child's attention. This would make a wonderful bedtime story. Thank you BooksGoSocial via NetGalley for the free copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

This is a cute book. I loved the rhyming which is so helpful when teaching young children how words can work. The message this story sends is perfect for the holiday season. Illustrations were beautiful.

I see that this is an old book however the formatting was terrible. I couldn't understand the verses as parts of the lines were shuffled from page to page and didn't make any sense.

At any rate, even if that were not the case, I didn't like the idea of the story at all. To read a story to a small child that the only way they can be loved or be part of a group is if they can be made useful somehow. Each animal as each child should be accepted for the way that they are.

The illustrations are also very old and tired looking. I'm not sure why this was put on NetGalley 3 years past the publication date but perhaps the publishers should give this offering a good look.

Since I feel that there are so many mistakes with this copy I will not review it on any public platform.

Thank you.

Book Feature on my blog at the beginning of December. Part of my Christmas month on my children's/middle grade/young adult site.

A charming book, just in time for the Christmas season.