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Cows
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 15, 2011
Cows follows the tradition of children’s books which depict farmed animals as little more than units of production. Domestic cattle are discussed in a detached way which relates nothing of their personalities or emotional attributes.
Although most of the pictures depict cows in verdant country settings, this is one of the few “farm animals” books which showcases a cow in an industrial setting, which is the reality for the vast majority of farmed animals. We see a photograph of a Holstein cow behind an iron partition with a milking machine attached to her udders. The text notes that “Some families still milk cows by hand, but most cows are milked by machine.” It’s this honesty, not seen in comparable books like Lynn Stone’s , that earns it two stars from me.
The final page of the book offers the facepalm-worthy heading “What Cows Give Us.” “Cows give us milk. ... Hamburger, steak, and roast beef come from cows. Most of the leather for jackets, belts, and other products comes from cow skin,” the text reads. The inference from this wording is that cows happily and willingly offer up their lives and body parts for human use. Something tells me a cow’s behavior in the slaughterhouse would indicate differently.
A “hands on” section offers tips for making butter from cow’s milk.
Other titles in the series include Chickens, Pigs, Sheep, Bulldozers, Fire trucks, Freight Trains, and Tractors, if that tells you anything.
Although most of the pictures depict cows in verdant country settings, this is one of the few “farm animals” books which showcases a cow in an industrial setting, which is the reality for the vast majority of farmed animals. We see a photograph of a Holstein cow behind an iron partition with a milking machine attached to her udders. The text notes that “Some families still milk cows by hand, but most cows are milked by machine.” It’s this honesty, not seen in comparable books like Lynn Stone’s , that earns it two stars from me.
The final page of the book offers the facepalm-worthy heading “What Cows Give Us.” “Cows give us milk. ... Hamburger, steak, and roast beef come from cows. Most of the leather for jackets, belts, and other products comes from cow skin,” the text reads. The inference from this wording is that cows happily and willingly offer up their lives and body parts for human use. Something tells me a cow’s behavior in the slaughterhouse would indicate differently.
A “hands on” section offers tips for making butter from cow’s milk.
Other titles in the series include Chickens, Pigs, Sheep, Bulldozers, Fire trucks, Freight Trains, and Tractors, if that tells you anything.
November 16, 2011
this book was so informative! I actually learned so many things from this. For example, I learned how much a cow can be milked per day (by man and machine), and that only girls are called cows! I got this book for a non-fiction review, but I really actually feel that I learned a lot. I love cows:)
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September 27, 2013This book, with Spanish text, shows the raising and caring of cattle.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews