Mooses with Bazookas: And Other Stories Children Should Never Read by S. D. Smith

This humorous fiction book is a collection of short stories and letters in a jug from a man stranded on a desert island. The man, Wally Warmbottom, writes of his seemingly constant misfortunes as well as providing the stories he discovered in a cave on his island. The stories he provides are stand-alone chapters, while his letters follow somewhat of an overarching storyline and make more sense read in order. There are a handful of black-and-white illustrations throughout the book.

S. D. Smith is well known for his wildly popular Green Ember series. Mooses with Bazookas is a departure in style and genre from his former epic adventures. The goal of every page of this book is to make the reader laugh. Nothing is to be taken seriously as he plays with language in an offbeat, but incredibly skilled and funny way.

“Wally Warmbottom here, your penpal who is deserted on a stranded island. In case you have been getting other jugs from other Wallys, please note I am the one who, as you may or may not know, ran into some legal trouble regarding a squidnapping. You’ll be pleased to know I let the squid, Freddie as he is known, go. He is as free as a bird and will likely be killed by one. If you hear that Freddie is “Deady,” don’t blame me for his squrder, because I let him go and did not alert the birds. Alerting the birds is for the birds, and I didn’t do it.”

While this kind of humor may not be for everyone, it certainly isn’t mindless. The way Smith tinkers with words and humor is quite impressive and demands that the reader’s mind be engaged to find all the layers of humor. I’m sure on the first read, I missed several things myself. While many girls will enjoy this book, I do feel it lends itself more to a boy audience with themes of war, survival, and unconventional humor. If you have a child who reads very literally or struggles reading sarcasm, this might be a challenging book.

Language:

“Dumb” is used several times.
“Annoying” about an animal.
“Shut up” is used in a few forms.
“Idiot,” “cocky,” and “heckuva” are also used.
As an insult, someone is said to smell like a “drunk skunk.”
Some slight potty humor in a battle named “Little Big Bottom.”

Sexual Content:

There are a few humorous love interests for Wally. He speaks about being in love, refers to his girlfriend, and dating someone.

Other Things to Note:

What is listed here is all done in humor, not approval. It’s clear Smith is taking nothing seriously here.

Ghosts are referred to a few times. A character has a lucky stick (that clearly isn’t lucky). Sending good and bad thoughts to others is mentioned, although in a very comical manner. A moose blows a kiss to the first star of the night because it’s “as our rituals insist.” Wally Warmbottom says he does not want to be rescued to pull reserve psychology on “the universe.”

As mentioned above, Smith uses sarcasm, or the character is earnest, but they are misguided. I think Smith is taking a comical jab here and there that might go over a child’s head:

“I continued following the ditch, as instructed by my spiritual mentor and close personal friend the Oracle. I’m not religious, but I am spiritual, which might surprise you after hearing that I’m a vegetarian. I just believe that you can find whatever you want by looking for it anywhere, or nowhere, or by not wanting to find anything. That is my belief. And I’ve never been proven wrong by someone I was willing to listen to.”

As noted above, one of the stand-alone stories (Mooses with Bazookas) references an oracle who does give guidance to the character.

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