From our family to yours...

We really appreciate your support and interest in everything moose!

We wish you the most blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

We love the way this bird thinks...

Enjoy your day and count your blessings!

What do domesticated moose do in the winter?

Why, we make our own fun, of course! Hello, we are Inky and Dinky.  As you can see we are twin moose!  As many twins do, we love to spend time together.   One afternoon Dinky and I were talking and thought it would be fun to help out around the house. (Acutally, we were a little bored and this seemed like a lot of fun!) Dinky ran off to get the video camera while I went in search of the Roomba!  

Inky and Dinky

Inky on the Roomba

(Click on the video to watch Inky in action!)

And the rest, as they say, is history!

What do you do for fun in the winter?

Enjoy the magnificence of the moose!

Lots of people have been asking about moose, so I thought I'd share these great moose facts that I gathered some time ago!  

The word "moose" comes from the Algonquin word that means "twig eater".

Moose can run up to 35 mph.

Moose are very good swimmers.  They can swim about 6 mph.  They can also put their whole body under water for up to 30 seconds...maybe more!

The male will drop its antlers after mating season.  This helps to conserve energy for winter. A new set of antlers grow in the spring.  Antlers only take 3-5 months to fully develop.  Wow, that's fast!

The flap of skin hanging from a moose's throat is called a bell.  Scientists aren't 100% positive, but they think it might help male moose attract females.

Moose noses are very sensitive.  Sometimes, a wolf may immobilize a moose by biting its nose (OUCH!).  The pain can paralyze the animal.

Moose can be domesticated.  A farm in Russia has a program where a small heard of docile moose are used for pets and milk.  And then there are domesticated moose like us!

..

All moose facts gathered from http://www.livescience.com/27408-moose.html

If you have any moose pictures you'd like to share, we'd love to post them here!

Come meet Algernon Farnsworth I

Meet our newest edition to the moose family.  He is Algernon Farnsworth I.  He made it just in time to spend Father's Day with us and our very own Poppy! You can read all about Algernon and see him in his travels by clicking this link... 

 Algernon Farnsworth I

A Quarter of a Century...

Congratulations to our very own Poppy and Moo as they celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary!

We are celebrating too! If it wasn't for them getting together, we would still be scattered around the globe instead of enjoying our life here.

It MOOSE be love!

We are looking forward to all the precious moments yet to come!

FREE is FUN! Check out these Teacher's Guides!

I am excited to share that the Teacher's Guide for Mark the Missing Moose is now complete!

As a teacher, I know I love when books come with a guide and/or questions to help make planning lessons easier.  Because of that , I thought it would be great to create Teacher's Guides for all of my books.  Each guide comes with vocabulary development, comprehension questions, literary devices, writing opportunities and more!  These are great for classrooms, book clubs, and homeschooling!

Even though Mother Nature doesn't seem to realize it's Spring in many places yet, I thought I'd SPRING into the season with a special deal.  

From now until May 1, 2014 you can get a FREE Teacher's Guide (pdf file) with the purchase of any of my books!

To place an order, click the "$1.00 Per Item Continues" Tab at the top of the page.  I will mail the books to you directly via the USPS and email you the Teacher's Guide (pdf file).

To find out more about each book, click on the website below each picture.

http://markthemoose.tateauthor.com/

http://lisatortorello.tateauthor.com/

 http://mooseatthemanger.tateauthor.com/

If you have questions or are interested in ordering multiple copies for groups or classrooms, please contact me for a special rate at lisatortsbook@ameritech.net.

An A-Moosing Picture to Celebrate Spring!

What do domesticated moose do in the winter?

We haven't been by the computer for awhile because we are enjoying this winter weather.  We know the extreme cold and snow is tough for most humans and many small animals like dogs and cats.  Winters in the wilderness used to be tough for us too.  It used to be very hard to forage for food with so much snow on the ground, and it was very hard to get rid of that winter chill with blustery weather around us all of the time. But, now that we are domesticated, we get the best of both worlds.  We can enjoy playing in the snow (which we truly love to do) knowing that we will be able to warm up inside the house and get served a hot meal when we are finished.

(Remember, click on any picture to enlarge.)

Gladys having a snowball fight!

Special is getting a special sled ride with some friends!

 Twins...Billy and Willie take a brisk walk in the woods!

Alaska loves to ski whenever he gets the chance!

And when all the fun is over....

Nick shows us how to relax and warm up by the fire,

while Chris settles down for a delicious dinner (indoors)!

Life is good!

Celebrate the first day of fall!

People have mixed feelings when the seasons change, but we always look at the change of seasons as the start of something new and fun!

 Fall brings us new and beautiful colors!

 Fall brings us cool weather (and new fur).

 Fall brings us fun times as we get to play in the leaves.

Fall brings us crisp mornings and bright sunshine...and that special "fall smell".

And it's always important to fall into a good book!

Stay tuned for a fun Fall Giveaway for Mark the Missing Moose to celebrate its upcoming release!

Happy Fall Y'all!

There's Still Time to Enter!

All of us moose invite YOU to take part in our first ever coloring contest!

Since we like things easy...we have just a couple of simple rules...

1) Choose the picture(s) you want to color.

2) Print them out using your printer. Just click on the picture to make it larger and then right click your mouse and choose "print".  (Please get your parents' permission first and ask for their help if you need it.)

3) COLOR! COLOR! COLOR! (Don't forget to put your name on the picture.  Your first name and last initial is just fine.)

4) Take a picture or scan your finished masterpiece and send it back to us in an email to: 

lisatortsbook@ameritech.net, 

Subject: Coloring Contest 

We will post the entries on this blog.

5) Our esteemed panel of moose (and I) will pick three lucky winners at random to receive a free autographed copy of The Moose at the Manger Coloring Book.  

Note: 
No purchase necessary. You may enter as many times as you like.  All entries must be received by midnight July 31, 2013.  Winners will be picked on August 1, 2013 and  notified via email and this blog no later than August 3, 2013.

The most important thing is HAVE FUN!

Good Luck and have fun coloring. Don't forget to email your pictures to:

lisatortsbook@ameritech.net

Having trouble?  Questions?  Feel free to send an email to lisatortsbook@ameritech.net and we will be sure to get back to you.

Celebrating Moose Style!

Last week was our Moo's birthday, and we couldn't let her special day go by without a MOOSE-tacular celebration!  We also thought it appropriate to make her our "MOOse of the Month" on our website!  

First, we sang Happy Birthday and took a picture with our Moo.  We swear she is looking more and more like us each year!

Then, we showered her with gifts!

The Mickey Moose watch is my favorite gift.  I helped our Pop pick it out.  It matches my outfit so well, but  I will be sure to let my Moo wear it too.

To learn more about our Moo and to see some other fun birthday pictures, click HERE on our website http://mooseatthemanger.tateauthor.com/moose-of-the-month/

Stay tuned for some upcoming book news!

Celebrating...Moose-Style

We had such a great weekend hangin' out with our Pop! It was his birthday and we did our best to make it special for him. 

We made our very own birthday card for him.

We picked out some special moose gifts.

Now Pop  has his very own moose-pad...

and a designer moose shirt!

(who needs that lizard when we have moose)

What's better to help celebrate a birthday than with personalized guitar picks... 

 #1 moose on the front!

#1 Pop on the back!

And our favorite gift...

(we are moose after all)

We, of course, ordered dinner for our Pop!

And then it was time for cake!

We hope our Pop enjoyed his birthday as much as we enjoyed celebratin' with him!