School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Can Cow save his best friend Moose who has vanished when two of his letters come loose? Cow causes lots of trouble as he tries to find a way to replace Moose's missing letters 'S' and 'E'. Silliness oozes from the pages of this rhyming adventure. Confusion and mayhem rule as Cow borrows letters from other animals, especially from "Bear who is asleep in his chair." Bull is not pleased with Cow's shenanigans and he chases him throughout the story. Cordell's simple ink-and-watercolor illustrations aptly portray the animal characters who are fun and likable. Managing to escape from Bull and causing lots of commotion, Cow finally does find the missing letters and Moose returns to the story. VERDICT A fun adventure for a reader who enjoys words, rhyming, and silliness.-Susan Small, Salve Regina University Library, Newport, RI © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
After the letters s and e detach themselves from the word moose, Cow's friend Moose disappears. In order to reaffix the letters and get her friend back, Cow sets out to assemble the word glue. Once actor Hermann sets his first children's book in motion, it runs like clockwork, though it takes a little effort to stay on top of the action. Cow takes the g from the word goat and replaces it with a b borrowed from a bear asleep in a chair; this turns Goat into a boat, and Bear into an ear. After Cow snags the c from chair, the neighborhood bull loses it: "Bear has vanished into thin air./ And what's with the ear on that heap of hair?" Cordell (The Only Fish in the Sea) excels at drawing animals in the grip of powerful emotions, but always with the sense that they're fundamentally decent creatures. Hermann's verse never skips a beat, and the transformation of everyday objects into new things supplies a string of guffaws. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Allison Cohen, Gersh Agency. Illustrator's agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
