Cowie

Stanton’s (Peddles) newest addition to her gallery of animal outsiders is a little donkey with red ribbons in his tail who sees perfection in cows. “He admired their soft ears and their kind eyes,” their unquestioned access to “green, green grass,” and—readers may guess at the heart of the matter—the way “no one rode them, or made them carry things, or made them pull things around.” As much as Cowie wants to be a cow, however, he can’t seem to pull it off; he’s an awkward wannabe in the cows’ presence, and when he moos, it comes out backwards: “OOOOOOM.” Cowie’s pals Duckie and Mousie step in to assist, and, after some false starts, they help the donkey make a “Moo” worth celebrating. The narrative loses some of its tautness midway through—sweet, funny training vignettes with the trio (and a skeptical chick onlooker) tread water for a few pages, but readers probably won’t mind. Cowie’s yearning and determination have a deeply touching specificity, and the pencil and watercolor drawings beguile from beginning to end. Ages 4–8. [em]Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Jan.) [/em]