It is a simple story. Cow meets car. Cow gets car. Cow loses car. You get the picture.
I mean that literally and figuratively because the text is minimal.
But what a great read aloud. I can just imagine the kids and I laughing belly laughs. Even though the text is, essentially one word, it’s all about your tone. It is a good book to teach kids about reading with expression and about the effective use of punctuation. Here’s the page that will make you crack up:
Bet the kids ask you to read that one again. It’s like reading the apple poem in Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.
I wonder what directions David LaRochelle gave to tho illustrator, Mike Wohnoutka, that helped him create such vivid pictures.
That was awesome. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for such a moo-velous review of our book! Mike and I are very proud of it. As far as direction for Mike, I made up a simple black-and-white illustrated dummy that sketched out the plot of the story, but Mike created the look of the book with his wonderfully expressive characters, use of color to enhance the meaning, and overall style and feel of the book. Unlike most author and illustrator pairings, Mike and I were good friends before we even submitted the book to a publisher.
I’m delighted that you enjoyed it!
Thanks for solving the mystery. You hear so often that authors and illustrators don’t get to work together. How fun to get to work with a friend!
The synergy between author David and illustrator Mike is apparent on every page. This is one of my all-time favorites. A gift for the kids–and savvy picture-book reading adults–for years to come!