From the Publisher
Newbery Medalist Creech touches on themes of loss, friendship, and belonging in this appealing tale. The book’s playful use of words sets this novel apart. Fans of Love That Dog will find much to love in this story of a girl, a cow, and so much more. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
As Reena learns that a little kindness works wonders for both people and animals, Creech’s spare narrative creates vivid, emotion-packed images of landscapes, characters, and “that/ wild-eyed/ heifer,” Zora, that will stay with readers. — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Creech offers a memorable family story featuring an especially difficult cow… A heartfelt tale that will be embraced by Creech’s fans, work well as a classroom read-aloud, and find a spot in book groups. — School Library Journal (starred review)
The quick pace and accessible narrative will win over reluctant readers, and it’s an easy pick for fans of Creech’s Love That Dog or animal lovers looking for a quick yet moo-ving read. — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The quick pace and accessible narrative will win over reluctant readers, and it’s an easy pick for fans of Creech’s Love That Dog or animal lovers looking for a quick yet moo-ving read.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The quick pace and accessible narrative will win over reluctant readers, and it’s an easy pick for fans of Creech’s Love That Dog or animal lovers looking for a quick yet moo-ving read.
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-05-14
Newbery Medalist Creech touches on themes of loss, friendship, and belonging in this appealing tale of a young girl's unlikely relationship with Zora, an enormous belted Galloway.When 12-year-old Reena's parents lose their newspaper jobs in the big city, they decide to change the flight plan of their lives and move to a small coastal town in Maine. Reena and her brother, Luke, "a seven-year-old complexity," are volunteered by their mother to help Mrs. Falala, an elderly and ostensibly cantankerous woman whose menagerie of animals includes a pig named Paulie, a cat named China, a snake named Edna, and the ornery, stubborn, slobbering, bellowing cow, Zora. Soon Luke is teaching Mrs. Falala to draw, and Reena is preparing to show Zora at the upcoming fair. The book's playful use of words sets this novel apart. Not only does Creech seamlessly intersperse prose and poetry, but the design manipulates typeface, font, setting, and spacing to paint word-pictures, in some instances creating concrete poetry while in others emphasizing a few words on the page—an accentuation that makes the story come alive and deftly communicates the range of emotions, from humor to sorrow, that the story conveys. Luke, Reena, and most of their new neighbors are likely white; Beat, an older girl who helps Reena learn about cows, is dark-skinned. Fans of Love That Dog (2001) and Hate That Cat (2010) will find much to love in this story of a girl, a cow, and so much more. (Fiction. 8-12)
