Monday, November 22, 2010

Cows Can't Jump

Cows Can't Jump by Dave Reisman. Illustrated by Jason A. Maas. 2008. Jumping Cow Press. 44 pages. 

Cows can't jump...
...but they can swim.
Gorillas can't swim...
...but they can swing.
Giraffes can't swing...
...but they can gallop.

I liked this one. I really liked it. I especially LOVED the illustrations. In Cows Can't Jump readers meet a wide variety of animals--snakes, lizards, kangaroos, elephants, cats, fish, ducks, etc. Each animal has something they can do--and do well--but not every animal can do everything well. Each animal is presented as having differences. These differences are celebrated throughout the book. I enjoyed the concept of this one. I thought it worked well. (Perhaps it is a little too long--depending on your audience, of course, it may not hold attention spans throughout the entire book--but for the most part I really liked it.) I think children could easily adapt this one and create their own  story based on this pattern.

You can read sample pages of this one at Jumping Cow Press.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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