When Cows Fly by Tom Watson

When Cows Fly Reviews

• 
  Yvensong

  I found this when it was offered for free and picked it up primarily because of the title. I read this twice, once on my e-reader and again in the cloud so I could see the pictures in color.
  
  I found the prose a bit uneven at times, though the story itself was very good, touching on important environmental issues.
• 
  Jennifer

  clever!
  
  At first, I didn't really like it. I thought it was just going to talk about Jacob and the trashman. I felt it was kind of boring.
  
  But when Jacob gave the cows wings, I thought, "Good! The trashman deserved it!" The cows were able to fly and scare the trashman away!
  
  The solution to the big black hill was clever. Because cow manure is a great fertilizer, grass and flowers magicially grew.
  
  I enjoyed the ending because it was a clever way to inform the child that manure is a good fertilizer. The parent knows that that is true and the child learns something new without even realizing it because Tom Watson does a good job tying that into the end.
• 
  Cheryl M-M

  Watson obviously wants to get the message of environmentalism across via the youngest reader and that is admirable, I just think it needs a little fine-tuning.
  The rhymes are awkward and sometimes repetitive. The reading age is fairly high in relation to the pictures.
  This book isn't as good strategically or visually as [[ASIN:B004RCNVWG Garbage! Monster! Burp!]].
  In general I like the idea of creating reading material which introduces environmental issues to children, especially in our current climate.
• 
  Literary Ames

  I didn't realise this was a children's poem until I started reading it. Anyway, it was very pro-recycling and pro-natural fertilisers. The illustrations were unexpected though they were easily deciphered on my Kindle. The poem itself has a dull beginning before the meat of the story was introduced and it's rhyming pattern was hit and miss but it all came together for a smile-worthy ending.
• 
  Trixy Lemell

  I had higher hopes for this book since the artwork is charming and the title eye catching. Sadly the writing was poorly done. The story is slow at the start and by the time it picks up the rhythm and meter is off which causes one to stumble over the words when reading it aloud. My daughter, age 6, stumbled to the point that I had to take over and read it to her, only to stumble myself. The story also dragged, had forced rhymes and at times seemed rushed (maybe due to the bad poetry?). I just can't rate it any higher, even with the awesome artwork.
• 
  Darlene

  I absolutely loved the felt storyboard illustrations. I remember stories told to us as kids on a felt board. The felt gives a sensuousness to the story. I loved the feeling of Waldon's pond in the story. Ecology is given a voice in this book leading to conversations of the science and responsibilities of the individual.
• 
  Kathi Olsen

  Another short story by Watson. Not as funny as the other one I read, and this one has a theme of urban sprawl and polution. Still a fun story and more cute pictures.
• 
  ѦѺ™

  All is not butter that comes from the cow. - Proverb
  
  
  Jake lives in a cabin by the lake and enjoys his life. thanks to Mother Nature's bounty, he has everything he needs. loud noises wake him up one day and what he sees upsets him so much. he sets out to work on a solution and utilizes his cows to help him get rid of the problem.
  limericks are usually written in "five-line anapestic or amphibrachic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (aabba)." author Tom Watson adds an extra line and his version follows an aabccb format:
  
  A handsome boy named Jake (a)
  Lived in a cabin by a lake (a)
  In the middle of the Michigan wood (b)
  He had lots of know-how (c)
  Some wonderful cows (c)
  All in all, Jake's life was quite good (b)
  
  like all limericks, this one is humorous and quite silly. it touches on environmental issues, though, which gives it some substance.
  i recommend this ebook to be viewed on one's PC than on the Kindle or other compatible eReaders if only to appreciate the colorful paper-cut illustrations. it also sounds better when read aloud.
  my 8-year old nephew was giggling over the pictures especially the "poo" parts. what is it about children and "poo" that crackes them up so much? anyway...
  after reading it twice, i asked him to read along by supplying the last word of every line. it was a fun activity and a great teaching tool for beginning readers like him. now he wants to take over my laptop!!!
  
  my personal rating is 3 stars for the story and 4 stars for the pictures.
• 
  Peacegal

  Jake the organic dairy farmer is distressed when a huge garbage dump is located near his pasture. One magical night, his cows take to the sky and their falling cowpies send the landfill baddies running.
  
  When Cows Fly is of a better quality than many free children's e-books, and it has a simple environmental message. The illustrations are done in an agreeable construction paper cut-out style, although I did wonder why the cows tended to change size quite dramatically throughout the story.
• 
  Tika

  "You see, when cows fly
  You may get poo in your eye
  And, let's face it, that's really not great"
  
  Glad it was free b/c I wouldn't have paid for this ebook. My 4 year old really couldn't follow without explanation as the words were too advanced (and he has a huge vocab for 4), but it gave us a laugh.
• 
  Mimi

  I downloaded this for free when I got my Kindle Fire to test out what it was like to read a picture book on the device. That worked out just fine and I got a good laugh as I read how Farmer Jake and his flying cows with their powerful poo saved the natural environment from a big pile of garbage! Cute!
• 
  Wanda

  Free kindle download! My little boy loved it b/c it had some gross out aspects to the story, and I loved it b/c it teaches a valuable lesson on compost and being good to our planet. I'm raising a green baby here! I enjoy the rhyme scheme, and this author always (well, from what I've read anyway) delivers with his social, environmental messages in a fun, laughable way.
• 
  Liberty

  This was a very cute kids book. I love the rural setting, and having Jake fight the big city people who think they can dump their garbage anywhere. I did not like the thought at the end that the Earth is smarter than us. As an Evangelical Christian, that part bothered me. But, overall, I laughed a lot at this book and my son really enjoyed the pictures, even on my black & white Kindle.
• 
  Sophia Martin

  This is a book about a young boy named Jack who one day notices a problem, a big pile of trash near his house. He sees that a man is building this huge pile/hill and asks him to stop. The man says he will.... When cows fly! Jack then takes matters into his own hands! This is a great book for teaching rhyme and standing up for what you believe in.
• 
  Felicity Nichols

  This is a cute short story that is geared towards older children (6+). Jacob is fed up with the pile of garbage that is continuing to build and decides to help the cows fly.
  
  I liked When Cows Fly because it helps bring to light how gross the earth is and how we continue to pile garbage and waste into our earth.
• 
  Rachel

  You have to have the right kind of sense of humor to appreciate this book. I think the author and I would be great friends, because I loved the mix of words like chic with words like poo all while creating a fun little message to not create so much garbage.
• 
  Malika Bourne

  I haven't read a lymeric in a long while. I enjoyed When Cows Fly, but it was a tad too long to keep a 6 year old attention. I couldn't get a 12 year old's to read it because she was too busy reading about wizards and such. The end was very funny, well worth the wait to get to thae end.
• 
  Jenn

  Not one of my most favorite children's story. I wasn't overly fond of the measure of the lyrics. They threw me off reading and found I had to re-read a number of times to get the rhythm right. I did like the whole recycling and natural environment theme, thus the 3 star rating instead of 4.
• 
  Lori

  I read this off my Kindle Fire. I loved this book. Great illustrations. There was so much to discuss with your children about poetry, way to treat the world, and so on. I am going to read it again because it is so darn cute.
• 
  Ragne

  I loved the rhythm in the language. The story, although serious, was very funny. I wonder what the other passengers on the bus thought of me. The artwork was also lovely and hilarious. I have to check out more of his books.
• 
  Bonnie Green

  Land on loves this one. He just loves anything about cows. It is a bit too long for him. (He is 2.) Hunter likes to try to read it, but most of the words are too big. (He just turned 6, and is in Kindergarten.)