Hunting the White Cow

I laughed so hard the first time I read this book to my girls that they actually got worried. This book rings true for just about anyone living in the South, especially those with ties to the farming life. We checked it out from the library originally, but have bought 4 copies so far. A must read!

There is much to like about this book, whatever the age of the person reading (or being read to). The story is wonderful and wonderfully told, with a very distinctive voice that makes it fun to read over and over and over and over. The detailed pictures are beautiful, and each reading can reveal new details, especially in the smaller 'frames' at the bottom of the pages, which tell more of the story. And if you see a real white cow in your travels, be prepared to discuss where that wayward cow might have come from.

This book is a delightful story, lending itself to read-aloud with Kentucky country dialect and a repeated story pattern. Lower elementary readers (K-2) are likely to miss the essence of the story and be disappointed in the ending, which reuires a degree of maturity and abstract thinking to appreciate. The most significant events in the story are those that take place in the reader's imagination. While the menfolk, who are repeatedly outwitted by the elusive white cow, place their quarry on a higher ahd higher pedestal, the reader is clued in to the cow's antics by the detail in the text and pictures, and by the background comments Mama makes. This book elicits so much engagement on the part of the reader that it can't help but be enjoyed!

Hunting the White Cow is a favorite book at our house. It is one of the few books that even mom wants to read again, as soon as it is over. The reading level is designed for a school-aged child, but my 2 year old will sit captivated through the entire story. We read a lot of picture books, but it is rare that a picture book has such a thoughtful and well developed story. The pictures are beautiful and help to illustrate some of the quaint references for our suburban children, who might not recognize a tobacco plant or a "saw brier" if they saw it. I can tell already that some day when my boy is grown, he will come across this book, maybe with his own children, and he will say, I loved this stroy when I was child.