Prudence the Part-Time Cow

by Jody Jensen Shaffer, Stephanie Laberis (Illustrations)

Prudence looks like a full-time cow she wanders through pastures, she swats flies, and she lines up for supper. But Prudence is a part-time cow she is also a scientist, an architect, and an inventor, studying and building and dreaming and creating. To the other cows in the herd, Prudence is a bit too part-time. She's just too different to be part of the herd. At first Prudence tries to fit in, suppressing all her scientific smarts and imaginative inventing. But in a moment of inspiration Cow Power! Prudence realizes how to show the others that she can be a part-time cow and a full-time member of the herd. Funny and sweet, this is a story for anyone who's ever felt a bit different."

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Friendship, Humor, Storytime, Stem

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2017

About the author

Jody Jensen Shaffer is an award-winning poet and the author of more than 70 books of fiction and nonfiction for children, including PRUDENCE THE PART-TIME COW, a Missouri Show Me Award finalist for 2019-2020 and Missouri’s choice for the National Book Festival in 2017, A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK, nominee for the 2021-2022 Iowa Goldfinch Award, IT’S YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, BUSY BUS!, an Amazon best-seller and Amazon Prime Book Box pick for September 2019, EMERGENCY KITTENS!, WHO IS JACKIE CHAN? and more. Jody’s poetry and fiction have been published in magazines like Highlights, Ladybug, and Clubhouse Jr. Jody lives in Liberty, Missouri, with her family. When she’s not writing, Jody can be found spending time with family and walking her rescue dog, Sophie.

Reviews

[Rian *fire and books* · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5. The illustrations are bright and colorful and Prudence is just ADORABLE. But how quickly her herd turned on her (towards the positive) was too... easy. For me at least.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amusing book about a cow who loves science & engineering. Kids enjoyed this book.

Fairly quick to read. Illustrations were colorful and humorous!

Kids requested re-reads, so bumping it up a star.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the beginning but found the end rather a let-down strangely enough.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a picture book makes me laugh out loud, I know it will be a first purchase for my libraries. This adorable book has a cow with higher than normal interest in science and engineering who does not feel she is accepted by the herd. (She actually is disliked by them at first.) She overcomes her frustrations by finding ways to help the other cows with daily things and then creating items they will find useful. In the end, the others accept her as she is and even ask her to help them learn new things, too! This book will fit well into discussions of STEAM that many elementary schools have added in recent years.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darling digital illustrations.
I love that Prudence loves science, knows how to read, is an inventor! The herd excludes her because she is not exactly like them.
Prudence has no friends. Prudence feels lonely and comes up with a plan. She uses her exceptional knowledge to help her herd.
The herd accepts her inventions, it seems, selfishly?

Yes, be yourself. It seems like Prudence is buying friendship. Do we need everyone to like us? Do we need to be accepted by everyone?
This book gives me a strange feeling....

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Digital illustrations complement a humorous story about a cow who wants to be much more than that. Prudence is quite curious, and fancies herself as a scientist and an engineer, and she's always reading something, leading the other cows to make fun of how differently she behaves and seems to think she is. Although she tries hard to fit in, she also continues to annoy the others because of her odd ways. Finally, she comes up with some inventions that please the herd, including a "cow-culator" (unpaged) to count the calves, a portable shade tree, and a musical instrument. While I like the message about being true to yourself and I understand Prudence's desire to be accepted, I'm not quite sure what made these particular inventions endear her to the others when nothing else seemed to work. The message is a bit heavy-handed for me, and the illustrations showing how sad Prudence was made me feel sorry for her as she kept getting belittled by the others.

[Ingrid Sawubona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prudence is a scientist, an architect and an engineer; so to the others, she’s just too much of a part-time cow to be part of the herd.

At first she tries to fit in, but in a moment of inspiration, Prudence shows the others that she can be a part-time cow AND a full-time herd member when she uses her problem-solving skills to make everyone’s lives a little bit better and easier!

This sweet story is for anyone who's ever felt a bit different; I’ve surely been there myself! Even though there are readers who might feel that Prudence almost betrayed herself so that the other cows would like her, I personally did not read the story that way. For me the story is about self-acceptance and about others learning to appreciate you for the unique person that you are.

The story is beautiful, funny and heart-warming, and Steph Laberis’s artwork is absolutely delightful, as always! Cow-power to all who read it!

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shaffer, Jody Jensen Prudence: The Part-Time Cow, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis. PICTURE BOOK. Henry Holt (Macmillan), 2017. $17

While Prudence is a cow, but only part-time. The rest of the time she is a scientist, an architect, and an engineer. The other cows don’t find her very amusing. Prudence considers what she can do to get back on their good side. So she buckles down and comes up with some clever inventions that show the others that she can be useful.

Am I being a fussy old person when I say I don’t like that the other cows’ friendship depends on Prudence doing something for them? The pictures are so good – I want to like this more than I did. Someone convince me!

Pre-K, EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prudence is a cow, but only part-time. She's also a scientist and inventor. The other cows think she's a little strange and some of their comments to that effect hurt Prudence's feelings - especially when she tries to be more like the herd. To show them the value of her scientific skillset, Prudence invents a variety of devices that help the herd and after unveiling them, the other cows think she's pretty fantastic and are enthusiastic about her creations and her individuality. Prudence manages to find her place in the herd by being herself. Colorful cows with lots of personality - especially Prudence!

[Reece Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to teach students they can be anything they want to be. This story follows Prudence the cow who doesn't act like a cow since she invents new things and doesn't do what other cows do. When all of the cows don't want to be Prudence's friend she creates something for each of them and they end up all loving her for it. I believe this could be a good book to teach students about being kind to one another and how everyone will find their own path. The illustrations for the story also matched well and added to the story. I would love to use this book as a read-aloud in class as well as having it as a part of the classroom library.

[Christine Irvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Prudence looked like a full-time cow," but Prudence didn't act like one. Sure, she ate grass and chewed her cud, and got milked, just like all of the rest of the herd. But, she just didn't fit in with them. She was interested in so many other things that the other cows didn't care about, like wind speed and air temperature and how to make a hat and all sorts of things that had nothing to do with grazing all day.

Prudence is an outcast until she makes a "cow-culator" that every member of the herd thinks is pretty nifty.

[Donna Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the surface, I really liked the premise of this story. Prudence has other interests and pursues them despite what the rest of the herd thinks. But what I didn't like about the ending was the way in which the rest of the herd accepted her. Until she created things that they found useful, they had no time for her creations and inventions. But once she made them things they could use, then they liked her. I felt that smacked a bit of using Prudence for their own needs, although admittedly younger students may not see it that way.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little story about being yourself. It reminded me somewhat of Tacky the Penguin. Prudence is a part-time cow who spends the rest of her time creating, imagining, thinking, and engineering. She doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the cows on the farm. But Prudence realizes that trying to fit in and be like everyone else is not what makes her happy. She eventually learns how to use her own talents in a way that will help, and make happy, her fellow cow friends.

[Evelyn Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a drawing and am SO delighted with it! Prudence is definitely not your ordinary cow. She's got intelligence, creativity, and great problem-solving skills. Just the kinds of thinking I want to nurture in my granddaughters (ages 2, 4, and 6), who will be receiving the book as a Christmas gift. And I'm guessing their mom, an engineer, won't be reluctant to read this one to her kiddos.

[Jenna Grodzicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prudence may be a cow, but her true passion lies in science, architecture, and engineering. She wants to be a true member of the herd, but the other cows just don't understand her. Prudence goes out of her way to try to fit in, but her love of all things STEM make it hard for her to keep quiet. Young readers who have ever felt different will certainly relate to this lovable character. This is sure to be a read aloud favorite!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part cow, part engineer-architect-scientist, Prudence isn't accepted by the herd. Even when she tries to fit in, like during pond-standing time or tree-huddling time, there's always something scientific on her mind. But when she shares it with the rest of the herd, they remain unimpressed. "If only I could make them like me for me." And in a fit of Cow Power! she comes up with an idea that brings the herd around.

Cute story about being who you are, no matter what your friends say.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story about Prudence, a cow who's different than her herd, but later makes them see that her differences is what makes her unique and that she's actually an awesome edition to the herd. At first the other cows would get mad and annoyed with her, but in the end Prudence makes these cool and useful things for the herd that makes them see that Prudence isn't weird or different in a bad way.

Awesome, bright, and colorful illustrations! The pages also have these nice smooth feel to them.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this except that Prudence never stopped behaving like she was beholden to the other cows for their approval, and they never openly acknowledged that it was them that needed had been wrong to exclude her in the first place. That almost seems to condone the other cows' behavior like Prudence owed it to them to make her alternative interests palatable to them. Still, a book about a cow with an interest in STEM is always welcome in the children's literature canon.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prudence is a part time cow because she wants to do other things and learn and read and build things and progress. The other cows give her a hard time until she invents things they can use and like. So Prudence likes being a part time cow and doing many other things, too. Good read aloud for kids to talk about differences and to have your own identity.

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5- love the illustrations, love the engineering/science aspect, not the biggest fan of the “she’s different from everyone else and they don’t like her so she tries to be normal and fit in but it doesn’t work until...”. The cow herd is really mean and Prudence is quite creative in coming up with solutions to their problems.

[Mama Bearian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prudence is only a part-time cow. The other part, she is busy creating, calculating, and experimenting. Prudence is more interested in STEM topics than your typical cow, which causes some problems with the herd. They don’t want to accept her unusual interests, but eventually they see there are certain perks to having a STEM-loving member of the herd.

[Skyla Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book. Very well writen and great pictures. The book has animals in it which kids love. The book shows to always be kind to everyone and even if people do not like you and are mean to you then you should still treat them how you want to be treated and in the end it may work out.

[Risé · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful story about a different kind of cow whose uniqueness and talents keep her from quite fitting in with the herd. Kids will love how she finds her place in the world, while being true to herself. An uplifting and meaningful message!

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent picture book. Not much to talk about though. It is about a cow that thinks she is a scientist and doesn't fit in the herd. The flow is a bit off, but the illustrations make up for it.

[Laura Salas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prudence the cow is a part-time cow and part-time scientist/architect/engineer. The other cows are threatened and say she'll never fit in, but Prudence finds a way! Such a cute story--great themes of STEM, doing your own thing, AND finding a way to be part of the herd.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prudence is a part-time cow, the rest of the time she is an engineer, a scientist, an architect, and more. But the other cows get aggravated with her inventions, making her feel left out, until she invents things just for them. Prudence become one of the herd, by being herself.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has great voice for a read aloud and teaches a lesson that it’s okay to be different and people (or cows in this case) can like you for you. I liked how the cow didn’t change herself to fit in.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustration style was not quite my cup of tea, and making the characters cows is a bit random, but the message is good: Prudence is a book no and doesn't fit in but once she shows how she can help her fellow cows with her new knowledge they all accept her for who she is!

[Lauren Canaday Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable and teaches kids to nurture their individuality, interests, innovation, and talents. Would be a great storytime book or an extremely basic beginning for parents' conversations about social issues with their children.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches the reader to be yourself.