Book 155: The Cow Who Clucked

The Cow Who Clucked, by Denise Fleming, Henry Holt, 2006.  Toddler to Preschool to Early Elementary. 

The Cow Who Clucked starts off with a quote by Vincent Van Gogh in the preface and an homage to Van Gogh in the endpapers.  It’s a great start – a brilliant start -- to a wonderful book.

The Cow Who Clucked is about animals.  Farmyard animals.  Talking farmyard animals.  Silly talking farmyard animals.  It is repetitive enough that young children can catch on right away, but no so much that their parents will be driven crazy.  The story is funny.  And silly.  And full of animal noises.

The star of this book, however, is the artwork.  Denise Fleming is wonderfully imaginative, not only in what she creates, but how she creates it.  As a result, the illustrations are lush in color and rich in texture.