An Occasional Cow

by Polly Horvath, Gioia Fiammenghi

When Imogene found out she had to leave New York City for the summer and visit relatives in Iowa, she certainly did not expect to have all the excitement and fun she ended up having

Genres: Childrens

131 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Polly Horvath is the author of many books for young people, including Everything on a Waffle, The Pepins and Their Problems, The Canning Season and The Trolls. Her numerous awards include the Newbery Honor, the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature, the Mr. Christie Award, the international White Raven, and the Young Adult Canadian Book of the Year. Horvath grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She attended the Canadian College of Dance in Toronto and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York City. She has taught ballet, waitressed, done temporary typing, and tended babies, but while doing these things she has always also written. Now that her children are in school, she spends the whole day writing, unless she sneaks out to buy groceries, lured away from her desk by the thought of fresh Cheez Whiz. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and two daughters.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/pollyh...

Reviews

[EJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Polly Horvath's writing so much that every new book of hers that I find is a joyous discovery.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imogene is informed that her summer will not be spent making wallets at camp. Instead, she is going to spend the summer in Iowa with her cousins. Iowa! A New Yorker in Iowa?! But when she gets off the plane and her cousins greet her by standing on their hands and waving their feet, she realizes this summer might be interesting after all. There are pigs to train and spying to do and they must constantly be on guard for the Anderheimerhooper children trying to win the pig prize. And, of course, there are secret societies to join: BTWS (Bathtub Walking Society), the LCCS (Laundry Chute Climbing Society) and the AGAC (Association of Great Agate Collectors).

Fun stuff.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Polly Horvath book, one of her earlier works. Quaint in its telling, and modest in its scope, it nevertheless manages to capture a believable and gently humorous slice of life and family. As always, Polly's characters are endearing and the events they experience are whimsical and pleasant. This is a relatively short book and a fast read, and well worth the time. Great for reading aloud.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Polly Horvath never disappoints when you want a quick and humorous read.

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book is actually 132pages. cute funny really to life...how about those names?

[Bridget R. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[What would you expect from Polly horvath but a funny book. Imogene's way of expressing herself reminds me of the heroine in When the Circus Came to Town. This book was Horvath's 1st.:]

Imogene Spark understands summer. She knows what to expect. Imogene goes away to camp where she secludes herself in the craft room making wallets. Her occupation is not one of choice but necessity. Imogene lacks the skills to excel at athletics, so she makes wallets.

But that all changes the summer her camp burns down. Her parents decide to send her to Iowa to visit her cousins. Imogene is a New York City girl through and through. She is appalled at this turn of events. As Imogene tells her best friend Edie, "I am not going to camp this summer. I am not making wallets this summer. This summer, I am being sent to stay with my cousins and my aunt and my uncle and their pigs and mosquitoes and cows and cornfields and potato fields and probably other dangerous forms of wildlife in, and I hope you appreciate this, Iowa" (15).

While Imogene dreads the thought of spending her summer in such a rustic place, she's soon caught up in the antics of her cousins. They train pigs to curtsy, spy on neighbors, take moonlight swims, and hold regular meetings of the AGAC (Association of Great Agate Collectors), BTWS (Bathtub Walking Society), and LCCS (Laundry Chute Climbing Society).

What I thought: I was not disappointed in this book. When you read a book by Polly Horvath, you expect to laugh continuously. And I did. Imogene reminds me of Ivy from Horvath's When the Circus Came to Town. This book is definitely a light-hearted funny read. Perfect to read in the middle of winter or at the start of summer vacation.

[Mely]

Middle grade fiction. "I am not going to camp this summer," Imogene Spark tells her best friend, Edie Finkelstein. "I am not making wallets this summer. This summer, I am being sent to stay with my cousins and my aunt and uncle and their pigs and mosquitoes and cows and cornfields and potato fields and probably other dangerous form of wildlife in, and I hope you appreciate this, Iowa." Imogene's haha is a haha-wrought-of-bitterness haha.

Imogene is a New Yorker whose trip to Iowa, of course, turns out more enjoyable than anticipated, primarily because her cousins are just as clever and melodramatic as she is. (When she first speaks to her cousin Josephine on the phone, Josephine reprimands her for failing to properly ascertain whether the Statue of Liberty is still safe. If she's not looking at it, Josephine points out, she can hardly know for sure.) The Reinstein children are primarily occupied with scheming to win the annual pig talent show. Naturally, this involves spying on their neighboring competitors.

This reminds me a bit of Ellen Raskin, although it's not as good as Raskin's work or Horvath's own later work. It has something of the same dry, zany humor and pleasure in wordplay.

[NaDell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was sort of fun. I suspect that it would be more fun to read if I was 8 again...since that's the type of book it is. I'll read the next book I have on my list by this author and hope it's much better.

[Lafcadio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edie was an unexpected twist.

[Liaken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half is wonderful with great humor. Then it sort of goes downhill into a lot of predictable plot.

[Ashley Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Polly Horvath's first novel; promising and witty, a quick read. I love her subsequent novels and this one certainly at least resembles that great writer.

[Brynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been my bedside reading for months. It's a very amusing book but another of the children's books really written for adults, some of the vocabulary was extraordinarily difficult.

[Adeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

another random and biZarre creation that i have read and loved