Kiss the Cow! [Hardcover]

Phyllis Root (Author), Will Hillenbrand (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Annalisa, the most curious and stubborn of Mama May's children, disobeys her mother and upsets the family cow by refusing to kiss her in return for the milk she gives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Never. Not a chance. Annalisa wouldn't dream of kissing Luella the cow, even though her mother kisses her every day after singing her a song and milking her. Still, inquisitive Annalisa is awfully interested in milking Luella, and one day she sneaks off and does everything just the way her mother does--all except for the kiss on the nose. The next day, Luella refuses to give any milk. And the day after that is the same. Annalisa's mother and her many brothers and sisters beg the stubborn little girl to relent, but Annalisa says "Never!... Never, never, never." Will the whole family have to live without milk and cheese forever? Or will Annalisa's innate curiosity get the best of her?

Both Phyllis Root and Will Hillenbrand claim to have tried to kiss cows while working on this story, but to no avail. "I was willing," Hillenbrand says, "but the cow wasn't." With red-haired Annalisa's little nose in the air throughout the story, readers will almost hear her cries of "never," and will surely identify with one whose feelings of absolute certainty can occasionally change. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Mama May has "so many children she couldn't count them all." Annalisa, the most curious and stubborn of the bunch, is never too far from Mama May's side. The red-headed pony-tailed girl observes how Mama May coaxes daily buckets of milk from Luella the cow using soothing words and, to Annalisa's disgust, a kiss on the nose. Eager to learn if she, too, can yield milk from Luella, Annalisa imitates Mama May to the letterDuntil it's time to pucker up. Annalisa's refusal to deliver a bovine buss causes chaosDLuella won't provide any milk and that means lots of "hungry, crying children." Root's (Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble) original comic folktale clips along at a jaunty read-aloud pace, befitting the eccentric Mama May and her boisterous brood. Hillenbrand (Down by the Station; The House That Drac Built) obviously delights in depicting the extensive family's full-to-bursting life in his sunny mixed-media paintings. Mama May's "house" is a ramshackle collection of small buildings and add-ons that stretches across a full spread (or as Root describes, "as wide as the prairie"). But best of all are the matriarch's sweet countenance and her passel of childrenDa virtual United Nations of race and nationality, all clad in denim overalls. Youngsters will be rooting right along with them for Annalisa to kiss the cow and save the day. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1st edition (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763602981
• ISBN-13: 978-0763602987
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 10 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,221,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pucker Up....., March 5, 2003

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss the Cow! (Paperback)

"Mama May lived where the earth met the sky, and her house was as wide as the prairie. It needed to be. Mama May had so many children she couldn't count them all. Among Mama May's children was one called Annalisa. She wasn't the youngest, and she wasn't the oldest, but she was the most curious and the most stubborn..." Every morning Annalisa watched as Mama May milked their cow, Luella. First she sang her magic greeting song, and Luella gave Mama all the milk she needed for her many, many children. Then she sang her thank you song, and last, but not least, she gave Luella a kiss "right on the end of her velvety, brown nose." "Ughhh!" said Annalisa. "Imagine kissing a cow!" Annalisa watch the milking day in and day out, and wondered what it would be like. Finally she just had to find out for herself. She took her pail from the sandbox and ran down to the pasture. First she sang the greeting song, and Luella filled her pail with warm, sweet milk. Then she sang the thank you song. But when it was time to kiss the cow, Annalisa absolutely would not. The next day, when Mama May came to milk the cow, Luella was dry. No matter how much she sang and kissed, there was no milk for Mama May's children..... Phyllis Root's warm and engaging text is filled with wit and energy, and begs to be read aloud and shared. Will Hillenbrand's bright, expressive, and entertaining illustrations are filled with humor and playful, eye-catching detail. Together, word and art offer a preschool crowd-please that's sure to charm both young and old alike. With its happily-ever-after ending to set everything right once again, Kiss The Cow is a winner!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet book with a lesson, March 7, 2003

By 

loveybyrd (Chicagoland Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss the Cow! (Hardcover)

"Kiss the Cow" has become a favorite of my 2-year-old after a recent visit to my parent's house in VA. While there, we saw cows "up close and personal", although we did not kiss any! In this book, Annalisa is one of Mama May's many children; the most curious and most stubborn. After disobeying her mother, Annalisa milks Luella, the "magic" cow. She does not kiss her afterward, however, as is required to ensure future milk production. What happens next is a lesson in learning the consequences of your actions, without being preachy. Luella will not give milk again until Annalisa kisses her, which eventually happens after much cajoling by the children and Mama May. Phyllis Root's book "What Baby Wants" is cute, too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very cute, January 22, 2001

By 

joann burns (La Quinta, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss the Cow! (Hardcover)

This is a delightful new addition to my children's library. The illustrations are wonderfully fresh. The language is not too lengthy or involved, yet contains some wonderful descriptive references. For example, unless you are familiar with a dairy, you probably don't know that fresh cheese squeeks between your teeth. This is a book my two toddlers want to see again and again, and I can hardly wait to share it with my kindergarten class.