If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff

If you’ve read the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and enjoyed it, then you need to read her book If You Give a Moose a Muffin. If You Give a Moose a Muffin is about a hungry moose who wants a snack.  Once he gets his muffins, a whole chain of events gets set into motion, and the story ends where it began.  If You Give a Moose a Muffin is a good example of a circle story.  What is a circle story?  How can you use this book to teach circle stories to your students?  Keep reading to find out!

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What is a Circle Story?

A circle story... also known as a circular story or story circle... is a type of story that follows a specific plot structure.  Circle stories begin and end in the same place.  They are great for teaching cause and effect and sequencing the order of events and are often one of the first plot structures young learners are exposed to.  If You Give a Moose a Muffin is a good example of a circle story because it begins and ends with a hungry moose who wants some muffins.

  

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About If You Give a Moose a Muffin

Author's Summary: If a big hungry moose comes to visit, you might give him a muffin to make him feel at home. If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix.  In this hilarious sequel to the beloved If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the young host is again run ragged by a surprise guest. Young readers will delight in the comic complications that follow when a little boy entertains a gregarious moose.  This classic book is the perfect gift for young readers who like to giggle.

🍎 Title: If You Give a Moose a Muffin

🍎 Author: Laura Joffe Numeroff

🍎 Illustrator: Felicia Bond

🍎 Publisher: HarperCollins

🍎 Date: September 30, 1991

🍎 Pages: 32

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Making a Story Circle for a Circle Story

Yes... you read that correctly.  

After reading If You Give a Moose a Muffin with your students, work together to create story circles.  Your students can work independently or with a partner.  Story circles like the one below are fun to make and reinforce a variety of reading skills:

• identifying important events
• sequencing events in chronological order
• retelling a story and its events in chronological order
• retelling a story in your / their own words
• using graphic organizers
• sharing information with another student, the teacher, or the class

You Will Need

• tagboard
• optional: paper plates instead of tagboard
• crayons or markers
• paper clips to make spinners
• optional: premade spinners

Directions

1. Have your students trace a large circle onto card stock, cut it out and divide the circle into sections. The number of sections will depend on your students’ age and skill level.  (A paper plate can be used instead.)
2. In each section the students will write about one event, making sure that the events they write are in the correct order. The students should then add a star to show the beginning of the story and some sort of a spinner in the center.
3. Mark the section where the story begins and ends with stars.
4. Have the students retell the story by reading their sentences and moving the arrows around the circle. If they filled in each section correctly, then their circle should– literally– go full circle!

Did you enjoy this post about circle stories and If You Give a Moose a Muffin? If so, check out these blog posts about more animal stories:

• Book: Yuka's Way Home by Abigail Roscoe
• Book: Raja's Pet Camel: The Magic of Hope by Anita Nahta Amin
• Book: Carl the Cantankerous Cat by Donna Paul and Karen Patel
• Book: Goose Farm Adventure by Kenyetta Obie
• Book: Zester the Zebra and His Missing Stripes by Christen Conrad
• Book: What Are We? A Story by Quacker and Striper by WD Smith