School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Millie's favorite activity is ambushing the mail carrier. The farmer's packages arrive broken. The postman has nightmares. He thinks that maybe if the cow got a package for herself, the raids might stop, so he wraps up a box for her. The next day, she takes off after his bicycle as usual, and the farmer takes off on a tractor after Millie. Everyone's shouting. The mailman shoves Millie's package off the back of his bike, and, when the running cow discovers that it is for her, she comes to an abrupt halt. The tractor can't stop as quickly, and it runs over the present. Millie is so dismayed that she drops down to the ground-on top of the bicycle, which gets all bent and tangled. How will the mail get delivered now? By Millie, of course, in a happy ending for all. This is a very funny book. With amusing details in almost every scene, including curious chickens everywhere, the expressive, cartoonlike illustrations merit careful examination. Great one-on-one and as a read-aloud.-Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
As determined and beguiling as those click-clacking cows that type, Steffensmeier's bovine heroine may be even funnier. Like any self-respecting toddler who likes to say BOO, Millie lies in wait for the mailman every day, for the pure, unadulterated pleasure of scaring him. While the text is both lively and concise, most of the book's considerable charm emanates from the droll visual humor. The barnyard teems with curious chickens and amusing details, unrelated to the story thread, which children will love to search out. A bird in swimming shorts dives from a bird house into a tractor shovel filled with water (and a tiny life saver). The no-nonsense female farmer peruses elegant fashion in Farmer Vogue magazine. A miniature elephant drinks beneath a water pump. But chief among the visual bounties are Millie's hiding places. She lolls in the mud with the pigs or wears a flowerpot on her head as she lurks behind the potting shed plants. Only her tail and horns peek over the edge of an outside bathtub, and then, wearing swimming goggles, she bursts from the tub, startling the mailman with her loud MOO. Here's one import (from Germany) that loses nothing in translation. Ages 4-7. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved