Theme: Feeling Smart. Cowy Cow has so many ideas! In fact, she has one hundred of them: green is the best color ever; chewed grass tastes like a cookie . . . But has Cowy Cow ever tasted a cookie before? Though her research may be flawed, this single cow’s efforts to make silly sense of the world are both tickling and inspiring! Chris Raschka’s award-winning brush strokes add just the right amount of emotion and comedy.
She is everywhere: as a vehicle for both farmers and advertisers, a subject for research scientists and poets, and ever-present in the form of lucky charms, children's toys, or simply as a tasty sandwich-filler. The female of the bovine species is revered as sacred or reviled as stupid, but one thing she never inspires is indifference. After more than ten thousand years living alongside us, she remains a beguiling mystery. Combining a myriad of richly entertaining anecdotes and an abundance of illuminating discoveries, Florian Werner presents the curious cultural history of that most intriguing of animals: the cow. Since evolving from the aurochs, an ungulate that grazed the Persian grasslands, the cow has embedded itself into virtually all aspects of our lives. Cow is the first book to look at the animal in its countless manifestations in cultures around the world. Werner examines cows' role in commerce as an early form of currency and their place on our plates and in our stomachs in the form of meat and dairy products. Florian Werner examines how cows are worshipped in some circles, such as in Hindu mythology, and abhorred in others, today being vilified as an agent of climate change. And he waxes philosophic about the significance of the cow's rumination and cud chewing, as well as her simple but meaningful moo. Combining thorough research with an accessible writing style, Florian Werner offers readers an eye-opening perspective on this commodified animal, whose existence is inextricably intertwined with ours and which we too often take for granted.
From the milk we drink in the morning, to the leather shoes we slip on for the day, to the steak we savor at dinner, our daily lives are thoroughly bound up with cows. Yet there is a far more complex story behind this seemingly benign creature, which Hannah Velten explores here, plumbing the rich trove of myth, fact, and legend surrounding these familar animals. From the plowing field to the rodeo to the temple, Velten tracks the constantly changing social relationship between man and cattle, beginning with the domestication of aurochs around 9000 BCE. From there, Cow launches into a fascinating story of religious fanaticism, scientific exploits, and the economic transformations engendered by the trade of the numerous products derived from the animal. She explores in engaging detail how despite cattle’s prominence at two ends of a wide spectrum: Hinduism venerates the cow as one of the most sacred members of the animal kingdom, while beef is a prized staple of the American diet. Thought provoking and informative, Cow restores this oft-overlooked animal to the nobility it richly deserves.
Learning about fractions isn't always easy, but who says it can't be fun? Using one very entertaining cow, math teacher Taryn Souders has devised a very clever (and fun) way of explaining fractions to beginning learners. One whole cow, calmly eating hay, decided to act differently on this particular day. One whole cow - what should we do? I know! Let's paint one half blue! Prompted by a poem and a visual clue, students are asked to answer what fraction is illustrated in the cow's antics, starting with halves and progressing into thirds, fourths, eighths, and tenths. What fraction of the cow is blue? Answer: ½ What fraction of the cow is white? Answer: ½ With the math problem featured as part of the artwork, students get an immediate sense of how to apply and understand the concept of fractions. How moo-velous! Taryn J. Souders lives in Winter Park, Florida. With a background in math education, she is passionate about keeping math fun for young students. This is her first children's book. Tatjana Mai-Wyss was born in Switzerland. She remembers learning about fractions with the help of a typical Swiss cake. Tatjana has illustrated several children's books and her work has been published in books and magazines in the United States and abroad. She lives in South Carolina.
