This collection of poetry includes poems relating to cows, as the title implies. While some refer to cows in their natural setting, others imply that the cows are doing unnatural things, such as riding in a car (�Drivin the Cows�).
The majority of the poems are rhyming poems. There are a few however that use free verse instead. The poem entitled �April 1� for instance, uses free verse. Many of the poems are humorous, but some have abstract meaning as well. �April 1� uses humor by saying that brown cows give chocolate milk and frisky white cows give vanilla milk shakes. One with a more abstract meaning is �The Cow�s Complaint� that brings up the idea of the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence.
Some of the poems contain figurative language, but it isn�t widely used throughout this collection. In �Drivin� the Cows� a metaphor compares the cows in the car to �sardines in a tin.� Personification is used in �April 1� when �the sun came up wearing a mustache.� There is a simile in �Cows Coming Home� that says the path has been worn �smooth as stone.�
The poems have varied rhythms with a lot of use of sound words. There is alliteration in �Cows Live Here� with �meadow muffins� and �pasture paddies.� Rhyming words are found in the majority of the poems. There�s �file� and �awhile� in �Clever Cows;� �season� and �reason� in �Moo;� and �shells� and �smells� in �A Cow Looks Down the Highway,� just to name a few of the many examples. In one poem the rhyme scheme may be �a b a b,� while in the next it is �a b a a b a b.� Repetition is another sound element used. For instance in �Cows Coming Home,� that title line is repeated four times within the poem itself.
The poems use a lot of sense imagery to really help the reader visualize the scene. For instance in �The Cow� the author describes the cow�s hooves as being �foursquare in the mud� and how there is �gentle softness in her eyes.� Anyone who has been up close to a cow knows exactly what the author means by this �gentle softness� and can easily visualize it. �Shelter� is another one that uses a lot of sense imagery. We can picture �her hooves sinking into the snow-soaked meadow� and how it must feel to the calf as his hooves dent the �wet prairie.�
The illustrations complement the poems exceptionally well and add to the humor. For instance, the illustration for �April 1� shows a �frisky white one [cow]� dancing about on two legs while the brown cow sells chocolate milk at a booth. The illustrations can also help children grasp some of the more abstract meanings. In �A Cow Looks Down the Highway� we see a cow looking on as cars rush by from the city. The illustrations are oil paintings done on canvas and are done in a variety of colors. "The bold paintings in broad strokes of bright fauvist colors capture the many moods of the verses" (School Library Journal).
The collection doesn�t have a table of contents or index, but neither of these are really necessary, because the collection is quite short. The poems don�t seem to be arranged in any particular order, except for the concluding poem �Cows Coming Home� which fits perfect at the end of this collection.
This collection shows a lot of imagination both on the part of the author and illustrator. The humorous poems and pictures will appeal to younger readers while older readers will appreciate some of the themes hinted at in the more abstract poems. "By turns funny and tender, cheeky and thoughtful, this collection turns an unlikely subject into Grade A fare" (Publishers Weekly).
Amazon.com. 1994. Publishers Weekly. Available from
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0606134964/reviews/103-
6549629-1558252#06061349647298. Accessed 4 September 2004.
Amazon.com. 1995. School Library Journal. Available from
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0606134964/reviews/103-
6549629-1558252#06061349647298. Accessed 4 September 2004.
