MINNIE AND MOO MEET FRANKENSWINE

The two funniest, most winsome cows on the early-reading circuit have to be Minnie and Moo, always ready to engage any situation with a mixture of slapstick (Moo), sangfroid (Minnie), and a comical use of language. Here, the two are sleeping out under the stars when a storm blows in, bringing lightning and thunder. A bolt hits a nearby barn: “Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. There was a scream in the night.” The scream is that of a rooster who is convinced there is a monster in the barn. “Every chicken for himself,” the rooster squawks. Olga, a piglet, is missing, and worse still, when the animals flee to the farmhouse, it appears that the farmer’s leg has been pulled off by the monster and thrown out the window. At least it appears so to the animals; readers will notice rather quickly that the “leg” is an apple-tree branch. It takes Minnie’s sensible head to straighten things out, including the discovery of Olga, shimmering with a halo of electricity after standing too close to the milker when lightning struck. Deceptively sophisticated artwork and lively language—“ ‘Poor Olga,’ a pig wept. ‘Gone,’ cried another. ‘Gone, gone, gone,’ said Zeke. ‘Like a turkey through the corn,’ said Zack”—make this a joy for new readers to tackle. (Easy reader. 4-8)