Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cronin, Doreen. 2000. Click, clack, moo: Cows that type. Ill. by Betsy Lewin. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0689832133

PLOT SUMMARY

Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type is a funny story about a farmer who is having problems with the cows and hens on his farm.  Farmer Brown can't believe it when he starts receiving typed letters from the cows with outlandish demands.  He decides that he will not give into their demands, and the cows go on strike.  Farmer Brown grows even more furious when the hens get involved and join in on the strike.  How can he run a farm with no milk and no eggs?  Farmer Brown starts making demands of his own and has duck, a neutral party, deliver his letter to the farm animals on strike.  All sides come to an agreement, but what Farmer Brown didn't realize was that duck has a hidden agenda and has some demands of his own.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This hilarious book by Doreen Cronin is sure to be loved by a wide range of young readers.  It is an easy to understand book that includes mostly simple sentences and a few above level vocabulary words such as "furious," "ultimatum," and "neutral."  Although these words may be unknown to the young reader, the context clues and pictures help to ensure there is no loss of understanding and keeps the reader on their toes.  The catchy refrain, "Click, clack, moo.  Click, clack, moo.  Clickety, clack, moo." is predictable and adds a way for the reader to engage in the read aloud by joining in.

The familiarity of the farm animal characters combined with items such a type writers and electric blankets that might be previously unknown to kids these days, creates a perfect marriage.  The unexpected events of cows typing on typewriters, hens on strike, and a duck as a mediator will leave kids constantly wondering what will happen next.  All kids have tried to negotiate to get their way at some point in their life, which makes it easy for them to connect to the funny antics of these farm animals demanding things from Farmer Brown.

Betsy Lewin has done an amazing job with the illustrations in this book.  The bold and colorful watercolor pictures really add a lot to the story by complimenting the text.  She uses a process of creating a basic, black and white water color picture and makes several photo copies of it.  She can then add different expressions and colors to the characters and piece many different drawings together.

The expressions of Farmer Brown, as well as those of the farm animals, help the reader to understand what each are feeling throughout the story.  Parts of the story are even told through the wonderful illustrations.  The note that the hens write to the farmer is included in the illustrations, but is a key part of the story.  The last page has no text written on it, but the end of the story is told through the clever illustration.

AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

Awards:   Caldecott Honor Book 2001

Review Excerpts:

"A laugh-out-loud look at life on a very funny farm."  School Library Journal (March 2000)


"They may have never heard the racket of a real typewriter, but they will certainly be familiar with the art of negotiation, and will soon be chanting along: "Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack, moo."  Horn Book (March/April, 2000)


"The thickly outlined pictures extend the fun, with closeups of the frenzied boss, the stalwart cows, and the hens cozy under their plugged-in blankets. Then there are the ducks . . ."  Booklist (Vol. 96, No. 15 (April 1, 2000))

CONNECTIONS

Lessons/Activities:

-Creative Writing - Have students create a story about an animal doing something unexpected such as cows that type

-Letter Writing - This book could be the introduction to a lesson on the art of letter writing

-Vocabulary - Use the context clues and illustrations to help the reader figure out the meaning of the unknown word

-Feelings/Emotions - Infer feelings and emotions from the characters as well as infer meaning of feeling words such as "furious," and "impatient."

-Science - Use the farm setting of the book to talk about what types of things and animals are found on a farm.

-Science - Teaching about what types of farm animals our food come from that we buy in the store

-Online games - http://pbskids.org/lions/cornerstones/click/games/

-Teacher Resources - http://pbskids.org/lions/cornerstones/click/resources/

Literature Connections:

Cronin, Doreen. Diary of a spider. Ill. by Harry Bliss. ISBN: 0060001534

Cronin, Doreen. Diary of a worm. Ill. by Harry Bliss. ISBN: 006000150X

Cronin, Doreen. Dooby dooby moo. Ill. by Betsy Lewin. ISBN: 1416996176

Cronin, Doreen. Duck for president. Ill. by Betsy Lewin. ISBN: 0689863772

Cronin, Doreen. Giggle, giggle, quack. Ill. by Betsy Lewin. ISBN: 1416903496