MINNIE AND MOO: WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?

Minnie and Moo, those marvelous big-nostrilled cows, continue their side-splitting trip through the holidays (Minnie and Moo: The Night Before Christmas, p. 1617, etc.). It’s Valentine’s Day and Moo is writing poems. Her first creation, “Ode to the Cream Puff,” brings tears to Minnie’s eyes, because “poems about food always make me weep.” When the bovine heroines see their fellow animals fighting, they decide that everyone needs some of their love poems. They dress up in fetching tutus and wings, grab their bows and rubber arrows, and proceed to send their “love poems” to their farm friends. The poems, which range from very funny to downright wipe-your-eyes hilarious, will tickle even the most resistant funny bone. Imagine young faces when they hear or read “keener” rhymed with “wiener.” Then the poems get mixed up; the turkey poem, “Dear Turkey Legs,” is sent to the farmer’s wife, the goat poem is sent to the farmer, and love threatens to be thwarted. Cazet’s comical over-the-top watercolors elevate this joyful, rollicking story of love and friendship and offer wonderful facial expressions to punctuate the humor. The farmer’s wife takes her shot: “Cows don’t write poems,” she tells her husband. Young readers will know better, especially if they have read Click, Clack, Moo. Keep ’em moooving, Minnie and Moo. (Easy reader. 4-8)