  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 04/15/2010 Why does the cow named in the title love cookies? The answer makes a warm, funny, repetitive story. Hogs eat slop: “They love to eat the gooey glop.” “The geese honk for joy and flap their wings. They love the corn that Farmer brings.” But the cow loves cookies. Why? The big, clear watercolor pictures with thick ink lines leave lots of white space, and the simple rhyming lines, with descriptive words and messy action, will encourage preschoolers to join in. The image of the cow sticking her head through the kitchen window to slurp up the newly baked cookies is as entertaining as the picture of a grinning horse nibbling hay. A culminating scene shows the farmer with the cow taking a sweet snack break together. Even after kids learn why the cow loves cookies, they will enjoy going back to the story’s beginning and delighting in the sounds of the words and the delicious rhymes. - Copyright 2010 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2010 The farmer knows exactly what his livestock needs: hay for the horse, chicken feed for the chickens, corn for the geese, slop for the pigs, doggie treats for the dog. One animal, however, eschews the standard farmyard fare: “The cow loves cookies.” There’s actually a perfectly good bovine reason for this, but kids won’t discover it until they’ve rollicked their way through Wilson’s delightful cumulative verses along with the farmer making his rounds: “Hay for horses, yes indeed./ Give those chickens chicken feed./ Corn for geese, they love it so./ But when it comes to cows, we know . . . / that the cow loves cookies!” Come lunchtime, the mystery is solved when the farmer and the cow wander off for a private picnic lunch; Farmer brings the cookies, and the cow supplies milk for dunking. Rhymes are lively and steady, pitch perfect for a read aloud, and although Wilson ditches “Old MacDonald”-styled verbatim repetition in favor of more varied versifying, kids will chime in with a lusty “the cow loves cookies” right on cue. Sturdy ink outlines filled with confident swaths of watercolor will stand up well to group viewing. Hall’s portly, bearded farmer has a hint of Santa-like joviality, which seems to have rubbed off on his well-fed stock, and the storytime set will get their giggle on watching the cow sneak cookies at every opportunity. Expect demands for repeat readings, and then break for a snack of, well, you know what. EB - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. School Library Journal - 08/01/2010 PreS-Gr 1—As a farmer makes his daily rounds, readers learn what he feeds his animals and how often. "Whenever Farmer knows what the horse,/he feeds the horsey hay, of course./The horse just loves to nibble hay./He eats it every single day. " In a twist, readers are reminded after each animal's feeding, "But the cow loves cookies." As the cumulative story progresses, what each creature eats is repeated in successive fashion. "The geese munch corn; it tastes so fine./The hogs think slop is just divine./The dog adores his doggy treats./But Cow would rather eat things sweet…." The story ends with Farmer and Cow sharing cookies and milk. The cleverly rhyming text and pace of the story make it perfect for a read-aloud. The whimsical ink and watercolor illustrations add to the humor. An instant storytime crowd pleaser.—Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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