Click, Clack, Moo - Cows That Type, by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewin

Click, Clack, Moo - Cows That Type is a Caldecott Honor award winner for 2001. It was written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin, for children ages six to nine. This book's plot and illustrations are extremely entertaining. Farmer Brown's cows love to type, and all day long he hears "click, clack, moo, click, clack, moo, clickety, clack, moo." This phrase is repeated several times in the book, which is very effective for young children listening to the story; the reader can make the sounds as he reads the words. The farmer doesn't believe that cows can type, so he goes to find out for himself. He finds a note on the barn door: "Dear Farmer Brown, the barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets. Sincerely, The Cows." The farmer becomes furious, and notes are posted back and forth on the barn door between the cows and the farmer, who tells the cows he will not get them blankets. The cows go on strike and refuse to give milk, and the hens quickly follow and refuse to lay eggs. Farmer Brown finally sends Duck, "a neutral party" with an ultimatum to deliver to the cows. They, in turn, send Duck back with a note saying they will exchange their typewriter for electric blankets and they will send Duck over with the typewriter. The farmer decided this was a good deal, sent blankets, and waited for Duck. The next morning he got a note from the Ducks stating the pond was boring and they wanted a diving board. The last words of the book are another example of effective onomatopoeia: "Click, clack, quack, click, clack, quack, clickety, clack, quack."

The illustrations in the book really enhance the hysteria of the plot. The notes on the barn door are drawn exactly as they would appear, with nails hammered to the door, and the text appears in a "typewriter" font. The group of cows (and at the end, the ducks) poring over the typewriter are cleverly drawn, and Farmer Brown's frustration from the notes is evident from the pictures. In the repeated phrase "click, clack, moo," the word "moo" is in bold print for emphasis, so the reader cannot help but make the sounds as he reads it aloud. The very last page of the book is purely an illustration of a duck landing in a pond after jumping off a diving board, and the reader may infer that the ducks were granted their wish after posting their "ransom" note.

My daughter received this book when she was three years old; she is now five and we still read it from time to time before bed. It's one of those funny books that you never get tired of reading. I am jealous of the idea and wish I would have thought up such a clever book. This one's right up my alley. I liked it so much that its sequel, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, was a "must-have" from my daughter's Scholastic book order.