Amazing Cows by Sandra Boynton

Amazing Cows
by Sandra Boynton [j741.5 Boy] 

Cats & Cows & Chickens – oh my!

Welcome to the world of Sandra Boynton, populated with cute and erudite critters that have been entertaining the funny bones of millions of children and adults since the late 1970s. Perhaps you’ve received a birthday card with the sentiment “Hippo Birdie Two Ewes” some time in your life? That’s essential Sandra Boynton, a cartoonist a lá Charles Schulz who can do a tremendous amount of emoting with just a few lines, circles, and squiggles. She has produced a plethora of greeting cards, buttons, calendars, mugs, etc. and BOOKS, lots of books. Her toddler-level board books have been a popular choice of parents for four decades now. Do titles like Moo Baa La-la-la or The Going to Bed Book or Your Personal Penguin sound familiar? She has also written some things for older children and adults, ranging from song-and-dance tomes like Grunt: Pigorian Chant to Chocolate: The Consuming Passion, originally released in 1982 and revised in 2015. [LCL does not currently own this book, gasp!]
Amazing Cows is an example of her lengthier books which take a theme and run far and wide with it. You will find out many things you did not know about cows, most of which are patently untrue, but very funny nonetheless! From ‘cowleidoscopes’ to the stages of insect ‘metamoophosis’, this will engage different ages of children, and also appeal to the child in many adults. Although it is cataloged as a young person’s book in LCL, a blurb on the cover states it is for “All ages up to a hundred and MOO.” What I have always LOVED about Boynton is her spot-on blend of appealing cartoon animals with her wild puns, cultural references, and gentle but clever absurdities. I always smile, and often laugh out loud, at a Boynton visual/verbal joke.

Like those great classic Warner Brothers cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, et al, Boynton’s work has something for kids and grownups alike to enjoy. As evidence, she has over 250,000 followers on Facebook, and it is mostly adults who are regularly making comments and sharing her posts!
A world without Sandra Boynton’s merry menagerie would be dull indeed.

[ official Sandra Boynton web site ]

Recommended by Becky W. C.
Walt Branch Library

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