Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-6. When the cow sneezes, the concerned lad who's in charge of the family farm in his mom's absence takes care of her as best he can: "I knew what my mom would do / if it were me who had the flu. / I tucked the Guernsey into bed / with tissues for her stuffy head. / I brought her hot alfalfa tea / and fluffed her pillow hourly." The next day, the boy finds every chicken in the coop sneezing up a storm; then it's the piglets, the donkey, and the sheep. He takes them indoors and nurses them with comforts from checkers to snacks to television. Exhausted, he announces that the animals are far too sick for entertainment. Horrified at the prospect of bed rest without their creature comforts, they run for the barnyard, to the boy's relief. With its bouncy rhythm, satisfying rhymes and twist on a familiar situation, the text offers a high-energy story that even young children will find funny. Westcott's expressive ink drawings, brimming with witty details and brightened with colorful washes, make each scene a visual pleasure. Young children will relish the riotous fun of one silly, yet satisfying, scene after another. A terrific choice for reading aloud. --Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bateman's (The Ring of Truth) sweetly silly rhyming tale of mounting chaos triggered by good intentions inspires Westcott's (Skip to My Lou) menagerie of familiar animals to mimic some over-the-top human behavior. Tending the farm while his mother is away, the boy narrator hears the dairy cow sneeze, "Ka-Chooo!... I'd never helped a sickly cow," he says, adding, in what becomes the book's refrain, "But I knew what my mom would do/ if it were me who had the flu." He puts the guernsey to bedÄliterallyÄbut soon finds he has an epidemic on his hands. The next day, as he notes a donkey gorging on chocolate donuts and a pig listening to a Walkman, it dawns on the boy that there is a corollary to the example set by his mother: coddling has its limits. "Too sick to be outside, I see,/ Then you're too sick to watch TV!/ No toys, no games, just stay in bed./ No popcornÄ/ you'll have mush instead!" The boy restores order, but finds that he, too, has come down with the flu. On the last page, the animals kindly minister to him. Westcott's drawings lack the loopy looseness that characterizes her best works, and the book's squarish format cramps the expansiveness of her visual whimsy. But enough fun and folly burst from these pages to make this a literary chicken soup for any young, temporary invalid. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A humorous rhyming story that's as much fun to look at as it is to read. Mom leaves the farm in her son's hands for the day and while she is gone, the animals all come down with the flu. Caring for the sick creatures in the manner that he knows his mother would care for him, the boy puts the cow to bed, complete with tissues and alfalfa tea; "popped the piglets in the tub/and gave them all a belly rub"; and makes popcorn for the donkey. And when the animals begin having too much fun being sick, the child removes their TV, toys, games, and popcorn, just as his mother would do, resulting in an instant cure. Westcott's lively illustrations add comedic touches throughout. The turkey working the TV remote control and the chickens sipping from juice boxes are sure to elicit giggles. Great fun for reading aloud.-Kathy M. Newby, Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, Russiaville, IN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
First the cow and then the rest of the farm animals get the flu, so a little boy treats them just the way his mother treats him. He plies them with tissues, belly rubs, and board games until the recovered animals are sent out to play. Westcott's familiar farm animals bring just the right silliness and chaos to this enjoyable if unoriginal tale. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The case of galloping flu seems to be striking the farmyard in this sweet-hearted tribute to that refrain that gets a tentative airing right before the school bus is to arrive: "I'm not feeling good." His mom is away from the farm for a few days when a boy hears the cow sneeze. "I've never helped a sickly cow. (I just know how to milk and plow.) But I knew what my mom would do if it were me who had the flu." It's right into bed with Guernsey; there to sip some tea and have her pillow plumped. Then the chickens start to sneeze and they get the same loving care. Then the pigs, who likewise get tender treatment: television and popcorn, baths and soup, all for the sick. Then the donkey and the turkeys and the sheep all start sneezing. Only after a long night does it dawn on the boy that he has been suckered: "Too sick to be outside, I see. Then you're too sick to watch TV! No toys, no games, just stay in bed. No popcornyou'll have mush instead." The place clears like someone yelled "Fire!" Westcott's comical, colorful illustrations work just right with this charming piece of tomfoolery, which ought to strike a few chords with young readers; that or it will give them a few ideas. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
