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above: The cow unexpectedly finds a tiny friend in the grass.
Mrs Wow Never Wanted a Cow -written by Martha Freeman and illustrated by Steven Salerno published by Random House Books for Young Readers, 2006.
note: this is a title in the Beginner Books “I Can Read It All By Myself” series –the popular picture books created for very young readers, first started back in 1957 with the famous Dr. Seuss title, The Cat in the Hat followed by, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back in 1958.
An amiable cow wanders into Mrs. Wow’s yard and she reluctantly decides to keep care of it. And in the bargain she also gets her two lazy pets (a dog and a cat) to change their ways.
“Salerno's pictures channel erstwhile greats in the publisher's series-notably Roy McKie and P.D. Eastman-by way of Nickelodeon cartoons, and purple Bow-Wow owes a little something to Margaret Bloy Graham's Harry. Bright, painterly swathes of color add dynamism of their own, and bold black outline simplifies compositions appropriately for a beginning reader” -Kirkus Reviews
“The mostly one-syllable words with regular phonetic patterns are spare and natural, and Salerno's brightly colored illustrations amplify the text's humor” -School Library Journal
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above: cover for Mrs. Wow Never Wanted a Cow
see Steven’s complete list of published picture books to date
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above: the cat chasing a mouse and lounging with a ball of yarn.
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above: Mrs. Wow milking the cow.
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above: Mrs. Wow first spots the cow in her yard while mowing the grass.
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above: one of the preliminary pencil sketches… the dog and cat watching the cow from the window above.
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above: the final illustration based on the sketch seen in the previous image… the dog and cat watching the cow from the window above.
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above: Mrs. Wow feeding her pet dog a tasty treat.