  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 04/01/2012 K-Gr 4—At once both reminiscent and contemporary, this narrative poem tells the twice-daily story of milking time. It creates a clear picture of a small family dairy farm, weaving in facts without interfering in the artistry. The careful choice of words alerts all the senses-smell, touch, sight, hearing, and even taste. "Cuds a-chewing,/tails a-swatting,/hooves a-pounding,/into the barnyard they trudge." Readers will also feel the strong tie between father and daughter (and the cows) as they share this routine chore. Realistic watercolor paintings enrich the text with the soft, mellow light of a summer evening. Whether being dwarfed by a large cow or feeling the warm breath of a calf, readers are pulled into the compositions and become participants. Both city and farm children will appreciate the satisfaction of a job well done—"Every morning, every night, it's milking time."—Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 04/01/2012 Alsdurf grew up on a dairy farm in southern Minnesota and it shows. Every note of this gentle, yet never patronizing, story of how milk is retrieved from cows is authentic, and it’s exactly these specifics that will be eye-opening to young readers: how the stanchions are lowered to keep the cows in place, how the teats are washed, how the milkers are attached with leather straps, and so forth. The story follows a little girl helping her father with the daily milking chores, a task of comforting repetition. Throughout, she repeats the same phrase: “Every morning, every night, it’s milking time.” Just as fine as the detailed descriptions is Alsdurf’s way of conjuring the slow, quiet texture of farm life: “The air is hot, heavy. Overhead a fan whirs. Tails swishing, the cows chomp and chew their cud.” Johnson and Fancher’s dusty watercolors lend the grit of a family farm a halcyon hue and match Alsdurf’s realism at every step. A nicely understated glimpse at a life fewer and fewer kids are likely to see. - Copyright 2012 Booklist. Loading...
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