Hello everyone, time for another book review.
I was looking through the collection of books mom has for our Therapy Dog / Read with Me Program trying to select a book that everyone would like. We have a few Dr. Seuss books so I thought that would be a good start. I mean, EVERYBODY has heard of Dr. Seuss and probably read a gazillion of his books. I think he wrote elebenty gazillion books of all types for all ages. The funny thing is, even though they ‘appear’ to be books for children, they all seem to have an underlying adult moral to the story. I like that, it makes them timeless.
Well, today I thought I’d review “Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose”. I choose this book because I like to think that us Therapy Dogs, and our moms/dads, have big hearts. Let’s face it, if you have any kind of pet at home, you probably have a big heart. Some of you out there have really, really, really big hearts and either rescue, foster, or adopt lots of animals. I call those people “heroes” for helping to save lives and trying to make life better for people too.
So, as you may already know, Thidwick is a moose – the title kind of gives it away. Also, some of you may have already read this Dr. Seuss book.
It starts out with Thidwick munching on moose-moss on the northern shores of Lake Winna-Bango. I wonder if that is a real lake. I should have mom do some research on it. If it is a real lake maybe we can go camping there someday. We’re always looking for new and interesting places to camp and hike and Lake Winna-Bango sounds really neat.
Anyway, Thidwick is just munching away, along with all the other moose (or is it mooses, or meeses). While munching on moose-moss a little Bingle-Bug asks if he could sit on Thidwick’s antlers. Well, being such a big-hearted moose, Thidwick says it is just fine. The bug settles in and Thidwick continues to munch away on moose-moss.
Now it is always polite to ask before just barging in and sitting in someone’s antlers, or home, for that matter. Just like when we’re out doing Therapy Dog stuff and mom always asks if someone would like to meet me or pet me. You never know, somebody may be having a bad day or be afraid of dogs (or bugs) and not want to meet me – or to let a bug perch on their antlers. It’s always good to ask permission first.
Unfortunately, from that point on it gets a little out of hand. It seems the bug invites a spider to live in Thidwick’s antlers without even asking Thidwick. Can you believe it? Even I know you should be polite and ask your host if it is OK for someone to come in and live in your antlers.
Soon a bird comes along and sees the bug and the spider in Thidwick’s antlers and decides to join them. This bird just barged in and when Thidwick realized the bird was there he asked what was happening. Well, the bird said not to worry even though he was building a nest using Thidwick’s hair! OUCH! But having such a big-heart, Thidwick thought he should be nice to his guests. Thidwick thought they would eventually leave, as most guests do, but the next day they were still there . . . and they had invited even more guests to live in Thidwick’s antlers. Things were really getting out of hand now, but Thidwick and his big-heart just couldn’t throw them out, so he let them stay.
Let’s talk about boundaries here. When mom and I are out doing our Therapy Dog stuff, or working on our training, mom always sets boundaries. The boundaries are for my protection, because mom always has my best interest at heart, but they are also for mom’s protection, and for the protection of anyone who may want to interact with us. Whenever you see a strange dog, you should never just conclude that you are welcome to walk up to them and pet them. The dog may not be friendly, or the handler may not want anyone to interfere with what they are doing at the moment.
(Aside: did you see what I did in that last paragraph – I used the word conclude instead of assume, because we all know what happens when you ‘ass-u-me’ right? Mom taught me that words matter and we should be conscious of the words we choose. Mom knows this from her volunteer work with Special Olympics and how much words matter – but I’ll leave that for another day.)
Back to the book – from this point on all these so-called guests keep inviting and allowing more and more to join them in Thidwick’s antlers. His fellow moose (or is it meeses, I don’t know) tell Thidwick to get rid of them, but Thidwick says he must be a gracious host to his guests. Well, the other moose (meeses) leave Thidwick telling him he is not their kind of moose. How rude! Just because someone is different you shouldn’t just turn your back on them. We are all different and that’s what makes the world so special. I only have three legs, but other dogs I meet don’t seem to mind and play with me just like they would with any other dog. Our differences should not be a problem when they could actually be an opportunity for others to learn.
Thidwick is now friendless, which makes me sad. And even though he has a lot of (unwanted) guests, he sticks by his big-hearted belief that he should be kind to his guests. Thidwick goes off to find moose-moss to eat and tries to smile through these trials.
The seasons have changed and the weather is getting colder. That means there soon won’t be moose-moss on the north shore of Lake Winna-Bango. All the other moose (meeses) are swimming over to the south shore where there will be warmer weather and plenty of moose-moss. Thidwick starts to swim to the south shore but all the guests in his antlers yell for him to STOP! They don’t want their home to be moved to the south shore. Now that is just not nice. Thidwick has been nothing but polite and gracious to these guests (I’d call them pests) and now they are going to tell Thidwick what he can and can’t do with his life. That is not right. A moose should be able to make their own decisions about their life. But alas, Thidwick and his big-heart abide by their demands to stay on the north shore.
Something terrible is about to happen but I don’t want to give it away. Suffice to say, Thidwick is going to have to get rid of the guests and swim to the south shore. He manages to do just that, but not after a real scare from some hunters.
In the end, Thidwick gets to the south shore and rejoins his moose friends. He no longer has all those guests in his antlers and he is happier for it.
I guess the moral of the story is that while it is certainly nice to have a big heart and to help others, we shouldn’t let others run our lives and make major decisions that affect our lives.
I hope you continue to have a big heart, to help others, but most importantly to take care of yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, how will you be able to take care of others?
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