Cassie Loves Beethoven

by Alan Arkin

Relates the startling effects of Beethoven's music on the Kennedys' new cow.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Alan Arkin was an American actor, director, author, and screenwriter.
In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Emmy Awards.

Reviews

[Shelley Alongi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. What an original idea. This story kept me in stitches and I thought he did a really good job of portraying the human qualities of a snobby artist in an animal character. He was right about Beethoven, the teacher Mr. Katzenbach and I loved his wife, too. I bet if we leave things to the imagination he got lots of calls to conduct orchestras after his high school debut of Cassie. The teacher was right in saying at the end that Beethoven could be mean. I just read one of the biographies on him and most agree he was aggressive, sometimes. Probably for that time and place he wouldn’t be considered mean, but who knows. Anyway, his music is wonderful. I could relate to some of the feelings of the cow about the music which is one of the reasons I give this book such a high rating. It’s creative and has a message and a lot of shock factor. It was just a fun book, too. I found this book by accident, looking for books on Beethoven and a children’s story around the idea of a cow intrigued me. The invention of the piano was a great idea. The true fact is that the piano was influenced by the music of Beethoven, strengthening the tension on the strings so why not create an entirely different instrument for an animal to play a composer that took advantage of the well-publicized studies about the affect listening to music has on animals and humans. This was great creative use of scientific studies. This is probably the most light-hearted book with a message I’ve read in a long time.

[Robin Lyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

UGH I hate to give a kid's book a low rating. I found this book recently packed away from years ago in my daughter's storage. It should've been a quick read but once the cow started talking, the character became very annoying. It took me way longer than it should've to finish.
I did like the musical references.

[Sue | DieSueschauerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Würde ich sofort meinen Kindern vorlesen, wenn ich welche hätte ❤️ Liebe das Buch!

[Carmen Gatti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice concept, decent execution, but I just couldn't stand the characters.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book. How could it not be with a talking cow who falls in love with Beethoven's music so much she wants to learn to play the piano? Although she does develop into a diva for a little while, I liked Cassie as well as the other characters in the book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The funny tale of a talking cow who wants to learn Beethoven. A bit of disjointed storytelling made me not love it, but some very descriptive quotable music passages brought it back up in my esteem. The two different music teachers were great charcters!

[Casey Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book in elementary school!

[Sarah JL · Rating 2 out of 5]

A unique idea for a story, but it's not really written with a voice for children as much as adults