Books about....cows
Reading dairy tales and listening to moo-sic!
When my son started at our local creche here in France, they advised me to send him in each day with a doudou (stuffy/cuddly toy). He had shown zero interest in the plush toys we had at home, so I randomly picked out a cow given to us by friends, et voila… le doudou! Fast forward 3 years, Vache is part of the family! She goes to school every day (where the kids each have special bags to put their doudous in until nap time) and Vache has joined us on every train, plane and boat trip.
Cows are, by default, my son’s favourite animal. So, here we are, five books we enjoy, all about cows! The fabulous Sarah Miller has a recent post full of books about farms and farming, if you’re craving more animals.
1 Are you a cow? by Sandra Boynton
Included in my post on books about belonging, this is a simple read-aloud with vibrant illustrations and a fun rhyme. We have this in a box set of Boynton board books (how’s that for a tongue-twister!) and they’ve been popular since my son was 1. We still read it today, or my son reads it and I’m responsible for holding the book :) Also by Boynton and featuring a cow as a lead character is Moo, Baa, La, La, La, another cute and fun book to read together with little ones.
2 Misery Moo written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross
I have been a fan of Tony Ross’ illustrations for a long time. He partners with some of my favourite children’s authors including Michael Rosen and David Walliams. This book written by Jeanne Willis is an entertaining story about a very miserable cow and a lamb that tries its hardest to cheers her up then ends up feeling gloomy. Ross’ illustrations really capture the mood and bring the story to life. We have both enjoyed this story and are keen to check out some others where Willis and Ross have worked together including The Really Rude Rhino, and Slug Needs a Hug.
3 Click, Clack, Moo…cows that type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Living in France, we are no stranger to strikes, so this story about cows on a farm who send a series of letters to their farmer threatening to go on strike was nice and relatable! We both find this an entertaining and fun read, and it’s an ideal book for my little farm lover.
4 That’s not my cow by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
We have acquired so many of these “That’s not my” books over the past couple of years, they were fantastic first books for us. We’ve re-gifted most now that we’ve moved on other books but have kept a handful of favourites - Cow, Robot, Bus and Tractor made the cut. The French version of these is called Où est mon ..? (Where is my…?) which I think I prefer (although the format is identical inside).
5 Yes! You Can, Cow! written by Rashmi Sirdeshpande and illustrated by Rikin Parekh
This is a wacky story based on the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle. I wasn’t expecting either us to enjoy it but it really works and has us both laughing. It’s a story about believing in yourself but manages not to be cheesy. Cow is in rehearsals but gets stage fright when it comes to jumping over the moon. I like how she fails spectacularly and needs to be coaxed back to try again, my son likes the supporting cast featuring Dish, Cat and Fiddle.
I’d love to hear from you if there are other bovine titles we should try!
14 Cows for America!!!! It’s a picture book (a GORGEOUS picture book) about how Kenya gave 14 Cows to America after Sept 11th.
My daughter LOVED Philadelphia Chickens: A Too-Illogical Zoological Musical Revue by Sandra Boynton. There is a song called "Cows," and now (even at 22) she starts singing it whenever we see a cow!