Cows Can't Fly

by David Milgrim

Book PaperbackPublication 6/1/2000 32Reading Age 3 and Up

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Fantasy, Poetry

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[J L's Bibliomania · Rating 4 out of 5]

One day, the young protagonist of Cows Can't Fly drew a picture of cows flying. Despite parental skepticism, magic happens when a breeze grabs his drawing.

I wish I had found this when older-son was in his bovine-entranced phase during his preschool and early elementary years.

[Rachael Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun rhymes, cute illustrations. Simple story.

[Dustin Dye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cows Can't Fly is a cute, rhyming children's book. What I got out of it is that adults (such as the parents reading the book to their children) should take a moment to really listen to their children. The adults are either too distracted or dismissive to listen to or consider what the boy is telling them, missing the flying cows overhead. It is fun for children, but also a good message for parents.

[Cynthia M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a little weird, but I get that it's meant to be for someone younger, so I actually enjoyed reading it. It wouldn't be my first choice to read to someone, but it would be on my list. From what I understood from it, the author was trying to show kids that it's ok to be creative, which is a good message to show to them.

[Sereen Hudaib · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good book for expanding children's imagination. Children will find this book very engaging because its silly that cows can fly? The illustrations, the book is colorful; the pictures are big and attractive. The book has some good rhymes and could be used when introducing rhymes to young children.

[Jenese Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the illustrations in this book and how they filled up the whole page with the text on top. Its a cute story of how this boy's artwork of cows flying becomes real and no one sees it but him because they are too busy looking down.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cows can’t fly, but I don’t care. One day I drew some in the air.” And so the journey begins as the artist’s cows fly through the story although the adults in the story don’t seem to notice.

Cute illustrations.

[Adriana Palencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and the wonderful pictures. I’m glad the boy wasn’t discouraged by everyone who told him cows couldn’t fly. He didn’t care what other people thought instead he explored his imagination. I would definitely recommend this book.

[Paulina Paredes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of imagination from a little artist who draws a picture of cows flying in the air. I believe this book would be a good read aloud to students and maybe even read this book outside and tie a lesson together to birds or to what really CAN fly!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his drawing, a young boy draws cows in the sky even though cows can't fly. When the wind carries off his drawn cows, the boy is amazed to see real cows flying. But ... everyone knows cows can't fly, and no one believes him. Cute story with fun illustrations.

[Kathy (Kindle-aholic) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story about imagination inspiring others. In this case, inspiring certain bovines to take flight.

[Gemma Reeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute little story I enjoyed reading it because it made me smile.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and imaginative. In the past we always hear, "when pigs fly", but what if cows could fly? What else might be possible?

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think this book is very inspirational because it shows kids how powerful their imagination is and thay can believe anything they want to.

[Gabby Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for young kids but was a really boring and plain book with a not so good plot.

[Benjamin Bernal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book for little kids. Shows them nice pictures of flying cows and and has a nice little plot.

[Caontie McNeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this is another one of my now favorite books to read. He know cows cant fly BUT what if they could? Wonderful picture book.

[Yajaira Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all about using our imagination. I believe this book would be a good read aloud to students, they would really enjoy picturing cows flying.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very silly and fun.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early reader, but really pretty hard “cow, care, air”. So not too early a reader.

[Jenn Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was highly entertaining for myself and my daughter. The illustrations were amazing as well. Would recommend.

[Kristen Scelonge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade/ Interest Level: Primary (Kindergarten)
Reading Level: Lexile Level, 470 LAD
Genre: Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction

Main Characters: Young boy and his Father
Setting: House and neighborhood the boy lives in
POV: Young boy

Summary:
The nameless young boy protagonist in this story narrates: “Cows can’t fly,/but I don’t care./One day I drew/some in the air!” The round-headed boy creates a crayon picture of cows with wings flying through the sky. The father in this story tries several times to tell his young son that cows do not fly. While the boy and his father are outside discussing the picture a breeze carries the picture into the air where it lands among real cows. They cows study the drawing and then take flight. The scenes and illustrations in this story are highly entertaining and engaging for students. The students seem to like the way only they and the young boy knows that the cows around them are flying. The adults are having tricks played upon them by the other children in the book so there is no way they will look into the air. The book ends with the cows returning to their normal life, but we notice in one of the final illustrations the young boy has a drawing pad under his arm and he is at the zoo. This leaves the children predicating about what he will do next and if these animals will be flying soon as well.
I used this story in my kindergarten student teaching classroom placement in order to help the students see the differences between reality and fantasy. The children were asked during a whole group discussion which parts of the story real first and which parts of the story could not happen in real life. This activity helped to lead into the discussion of what fantasy means and the flying cows were a great example of this.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Milgrim, Cows Can't Fly (Houghton Mifflin, 2000)

I have been a fan of David Milgrim's books for some time now—since years before my youngest was born, much less old enough for me to read him Milgrim's books—so picking up a copy of Cows Can't Fly was pretty much predestined. (At this point, the only Milgrim not in my permanent collection is, ironically, the first book of his I read, Amelia Makes a Movie; I figure that one is for when the bean gets to be five or six years old, and he's only two now.) I have to say that he doesn't seem quite as fond of this one as he is of Time to Get Up, Time to Go, but Milgrim's books have always taken a while to grow on him, so we read Cows Can't Fly maybe once a week at this point; I expect that to increase. This one is charmingly silly; the narrator draws a picture of flying cows that the adults around him think is silly, but when the wind blows it into a pasture, the cows there, not realizing they are not aerodynamic, use it as a blueprint—and none of the adults in town look up long enough to take notice of the flock of (obviously constipated, since that would certainly get people to take notice!) cows flying over them. There's a fine lesson couched in this one as well as it being the usual affable Milgrim text and fun drawings. Another winner from David Milgrim; I'm starting to wonder if the guy can do anything wrong. He's becoming one of our favorite purveyors of pre-/kidlit at Goat Central. *** ½

[Jesse Sprague · Rating 4 out of 5]

The simple sing-song words of this sweet little book flow beautifully and keep a smile on your face the whole read. The message is a pleasant one about keeping an open mind and possibilities.

I found myself very interested in the grownup characters, who though no real time is spent on them have a surprising amount of depth. In a way I pity all of them because they are incapable of seeing the magic going on around them. As an imaginative person I felt the boy’s frustration with the painfully logical adults. I have told my son so many times how much I dislike the teacher that when we get to that page he says “I don’t like her. She’s mean.”

I have only one real complaint. I wish I was fonder of the pictures. The cows are always a little distracting as I find they don’t look much like cows and I start to ponder what animal they do look like. There are also moments where the dog looks like a melted puddle. I do like the simplistic way the people are depicted and the sense of motion you get throughout.

Overall this is an easy and fun book to read even if you have to do so over and over as most parents do!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cows can't fly is a picture book about a little boy who used his imagination to draw a picture of flying cows. His picture was blown away and landed in a cow pasture. Once the cows saw the picture, they decided to try to fly. The booy soon sees a flock of cows flying across the sky. This story uses rhyme very well. The sentences on each page are written as a poem. The illustrations are watercolor. Each illustration takes an entire page. The pages are very colorful and will capture the attention of children during storytime. This story encourages children to use their imagination about what else might be able to fly. This is a fun story that small children would enjoy.

[M.C. Humphreys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, cows CAN fly. But even if they couldn't, we could never really be sure whether they're just choosing not to. David Hume, one of the greatest farmers who ever lived, proved this dilemna to be a basic problem of empiricism. Thank you, David, for revealing the true nature of cows to everyone.
I gave this three stars because, even though it is factually incorrect, it was just such a fun story. These cows are really a heartwarming bunch of cows, much like my own Miranda Moo, the light of my milk bucket. It would be a dark, rusty, unbearable milk bucket without her. Thankfully, it's just rusty.

[Hali Armour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cows Can't Fly is a really cute story about a little boys imaginations and drawing. He draws a picture of cows flying and as his dad is telling him his picture is impossible and he should draw something else his picture lifts high in the sky and floats away. Next thing you know there are actually cows in the sky flying. The boy tries to share this with everyone but everyone he shows either doesn't believe him or were too distracted in whatever they were doing. This would be a very cute story to share with a class and explain that cows realistically cannot fly but it is fun to be creative and have an imagination.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASY
1. No awards
2. Preschool - 3rd Grade
3. A little boy learns that cows cannot fly but decides to ignore it and draws flying cows. With a blink of an eye, his drawing comes to life and shares the amazing news with everyone in town. After that he then wonders what or who might fly next!
4. I enjoyed reading this imaginative book about flying animals. The illustrations are very friendly and inviting which will grab reader's attention. The text on each page is short and simple with a rhyme for every other line.
5. This book can be used to teach students about rhymes and inspire them to create their own imaginative book about flying animals or objects.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the pictures in this book, and the smile I get at the end. The idea is cute. Some of the tinier details in the illustrations might be above the preschoolers heads, but they wouldn't be able to see them in storytime anyhow. I think the children enjoyed the book--mostly from the idea of flying cows.

5/2/12 I remember this working well before, so I tried it again. The kids like the pictures and seem to enjoy the story. It's not the most fabulous book for them, but it's a filler that works. And worked very well in my flying theme.

[Kandice Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a little boy who draws flying cows and is told that cows can not fly. The wind takes his drawing and it is blown to a pasture full of cows. They see the drawing and decide to fly. The little boy sees the cows flying but nobody will pay attention or believe what he is saying. To me, if you dig deep into the meaning of the book, I believe it is saying to listen to kids. As we grow up we get so caught up in our daily life that we forget to listen to the kids and use our imagination like they do. I LOVE THIS BOOK! It teaches kids to use their imagination!