Duck, Duck, Moose

Winter is coming to New Hampshire, so Duck and Other Duck head south for the winter and invite their pancake-loving friend Moose to come along for the drive. (What, they should fly?) And once Moose sees just how little there is to do with Bear hibernating and the Pancake Hut closed for the season, he takes them up on their offer ("And away they went..."). Of course the car ride in the backseat is interminable%E2%80%94as any kid could have told Moose%E2%80%94but once he experiences the joys of Florida (snorkeling, fishing, visiting the Everglades and Cape Canaveral), Moose is devastated when the time comes to return to New Hampshire (his wail of "Noooooooo!" stretches across two pages and several states). This being a book by Horowitz (Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again), the cartooning is as brash and exuberant as the steady flow of vaudevillian silliness. Readers should feel empowered to add their own rim shots after many of the jokes, as when Moose picks his nose in a Florida U-Pick Farm%E2%80%94ba-dum-CHING! Ages 5%E2%80%948. (Oct.)