Click Clack Moo

Click Clack Moo by: Doreen Cronin
Illustrated by: Betsy Lewin
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000
ISBN 0689832133

Click Clack Moo is about Farmer Brown’s cows who love to type. Farmer Brown has always thought this was a strange thing for cows to do, but it did not make him mad until the cows started making demands. First the cows ask for blankets, and then the chickens decide they also want blankets. When Farmer Brown refuses, the cows and chickens type a note “Closed. No Milk. No Eggs.” Duck, being a neutral party, takes notes between the cows and Farmer Brown. The cows agree to trade their typewriter for electric blankets. So, Farmer Brown gives the cows and chickens electric blankets and duck is supposed to bring him the typewriter. However, instead of the typewriter, Farmer Brown gets a new note:

“Dear Farmer Brown,
The pond is quite boring. We’d like a diving board.
Sincerely,
The Ducks”

Doreen Cronin creates an adorable story using simple language and quirky characters. Farmer Brown is your typical farmer, but he has an unusual stock of animals. The cows share a child’s innate curiosity for all things foreign through their fascination with the typewriter. Betsy Lewin’s illustrations are cartoonish enough to make typing cows believable and she uses bright, traditional farm colors. Her illustrations are very simple and rough, there are no solidly defined shapes, which gives the story a sense of energy.

Horn Book Magazine (Mar/Apr2000, Vol. 76 Issue 2)—“That typewriters may be as anachronistic to today's kids as rumble seats and spinning wheels won't lessen their enjoyment of this amusing story. 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.’”

Children’s Literature Review (Vol. 105 )—“Kids and underdogs everywhere will cheer for the clever critters that calmly and politely stand up for their rights, while their human caretaker becomes more and more unglued.”

Connections:
If you read this story to younger children (pre-K to 1st grade), you could have the children think of things the other farm animals might want. This is a good way for them to continue the story and work on their predicting skills.
If you read this story with older children (2nd grade to 4th grade), you could discuss conflict resolution and compromise.

Works Cited:
Roback, Diane, Cindi Di Marzo, and Jennifer M. Brown. "Review of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type." Illus. Betsy Lewin. Publishers Weekly 247.8 (21 Feb. 2000): 86. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 105. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.

Sieruta, Peter D. "Click, Clack, Moo." Horn Book Magazine 76.2 (2000): 183. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.