This Moose Belongs To Me, by Oliver Jeffers, taunted me online as a suggested purchase for quite a while before I finally decided that I needed to check it out in person- and once I did, I was not disappointed. As a former art student, and fan of vintage & thrifted paintings, the cover illustration alone was calling out to me. The illustrations inside are just as beautiful- quirky characters set against backgrounds of varying landscapes. The paint looks thick, the brush strokes are visible- essentially, it’s just up my alley!

#thebigone and I read this together, and he loved the tale of Wilfred, who had not always owned a moose. My son was particularly interested in the way Jeffers combined his character illustrations with more traditional painting styles- “Look! He just did some blue scribbles there, right on top of everything!”

We decided to hit up our local thrift store, in search of the just right supplies for a project we were thinking about. #thebigone insisted we bring the book to the store with us, just in case he forgot what sort of landscapes would look best. In the end, we settled on 3 different pieces of art. For this project, paintings that are not hung behind glass are ideal- you will get a better looking finished product by working directly on the print or canvas.

#thebigone and I talked about what kind of animals we might find in the paintings we had purchased, and he settled on a bear, a fox, and a bunny. Using the animal illustrations I created (found here in large, medium, & small), #thebigone chose the appropriate size for each painting. You’ll find a few other animal options in the printables, and of course, you can always get creative and draw your own! He used a variety of ways to add color to his animals- colored pencil, crayon, and watercolors all worked beautifully- and I’m sure markers or acrylic paints would also be successful. #thebigone also drew himself, because he wanted to put himself right into the artwork like Wilfred.

After he was happy with the colors, #thebigone carefully cut out each animal, and we used a sponge brush & Mod Podge to attach the animals to the paintings. #thebigone used a few permanent markers to add his own scribbles of string, furthering mirroring Jeffers’ work.

If you complete this project with your kids, I’d love to see the finished products! Please tag me on social media, or email them my way!

Want to take a look at this book? You can find it here!

Looking for other creative & thought-provoking activities inspired by children’s literature? Take a peek here!
And don’t forget to pin this project, so you can try it at home!

Looking for those printables I mentioned? They’re linked in the text above, or grab them below:

Small

Medium

Large