The Cow Loves Cookies

Wilson's (Bear Snores On) rhymed cumulative poem introduces children to the kinds of food farm animals eat. "When-ever Farmer feeds the horse,/ he feeds the horsey hay, of course." Each stanza ends by emphasizing that, "the cow loves cookies," and portrays the cow stealing cookies from a round-faced baby or pilfering cookies from a cookie jar (while wearing a rather guilty expression). Hall's (City I Love) watercolor illustrations, lined in thick, black ink, feature an old-fashioned, idyllic farm with a white-bearded farmer, cookies the size of pancakes, and a gaggle of hungry animals. "So why does the cow love cookies?" Because the cow and farmer have made a deal—every day they have a picnic lunch, and "when the two sit down to munch,/ he takes cookies from a tin/ and Cow gives milk to dunk them in." While some parents may object to a book that encourages making cookies one's primary food group, children will identify with the blissful look of the farmer and his cow who "both love milk and cookies!" Ages 3–7. (July)