When Cows Fly

by Tom Watson

A fun story written in a rhyming, limerick style, "When Cows Fly" is aimed at the younger set. Illustrated with finely cut paper illustrations, the story revolves around a boy in the woods, his pet cows and a massive pile of garbage that is accumulating nearby. Jacob takes matters into his own hands. He attaches wings to his cows and they go to work. What happens next is both funny and (a little bit ... ) gross. You can probably guess.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Amazon, Animals, Humor, Picture Books

34 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 28, 2010

About the author

Tom is the author and draws the original sketches for all the Stick Dog stories. He lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter and son. They also have a dog named Shadow. Tom did not want to name the dog Shadow. He wanted to name him ‘Put Your Shirt On.’ It’s a long story. Sometimes when Tom is visiting schools, he shares the story.

Tom’s first jobs out of college were in politics. He worked for U.S. Senator John Glenn and as the Chief Speechwriter for the Governor of Ohio. He has also worked in marketing and advertising. He likes writing books for kids a lot more than writing speeches and other things for grown-ups. He thinks kids are way smarter than grown-ups.

He LOVES writing the Stick Dog adventures.

Reviews

[Yvensong · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Jungyun Shin · Rating 5 out of 5]

...

I choose five star because my sis loved,and I mean literally loved the story. I read it and it's pretty good. It's mostly about pollution.

[Frederick M Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy wants to get rid of a pile of junk, and success is brought to him.

This is a wonderful book. Everyone has to read it! It is amazing, and funny, and just great. I could never forget it!

[Stephanie Lynn Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family Favorite!

I've read this story to all three of my children over the years and we never tire of it. We love the meaningful message and the hilarious conclusion! It gets us laughing everytime! Definitely one of my kids' most requested bedtime stories!

[Josh Mathenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved that book!!!

The book was very funny and I used to read this as a kid so I was sooo happy when I found it again. I would recommend this book to any child or even adult.😜

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 8 year old loved it

Not the smoothest prose, but cute theme and a strong moral. We read this on Earth Day and it was fitting.

[Erin Horner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not think it was good

One star
It was weird
Why do steel and metal why not plastic
Talk more about plotting
Why would you not make it more fun to read

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the book, a rhyming book about cleaning up the environment and the fact his cows could fly but the rhythm was off and I found myself trying to compensate for it.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute children's book.

[ѦѺ™ · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this because it was free, but when I looked at it, I was pleasantly surprised. The art looks like collage style, similar to what is used on programs like Blues Clues. The think I liked the best, though, was the unusual rhyme scheme. Each "verse" had six lines, and they would rhyme in the pattern of AABCCB. This would be great to read out loud to children because they would eagerly listen to the rhymes in the story.

[Tika · Rating 3 out of 5]

"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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Mwsbookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny story..

When Cows Fly is a hilarious tale with an environmental message: DON'T LITTER! The guy at the landfill learns a lesson (read it to find out). And it is all in limericks! I love it!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.