''Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type'' is a 2000

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

written by

Doreen Cronin Doreen Cronin (born 1966) is an American writer of children's books, including ''Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type'', a very well-received picture book illustrated by Betsy Lewin. Life Cronin was born in Queens, New York City, and grew up on Long ...

Illustrated An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

Betsy Lewin Betsy Reilly Lewin (born May 12, 1937) is an American illustrator from Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She studied illustration at Pratt Institute. After graduation, she began designing greeting cards. She began writing and illustrating stories for c ...

, the

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

book tells the story of Farmer Brown's

cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

, who find an old

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

in the barn and proceed to write letters to Farmer Brown, making various demands and then going on strike when they aren't met. A book and CD edition was also released, with the CD being narrated by

Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (; 7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Adrian Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative come ...

. The CD features three tracks; tracks one and three featuring the story being read with background music and sound effect track, and track two being solely the story without added audio.

Plot

Farmer Brown begins to hear typing sounds coming from his barn. He discovers that his cows have found an old typewriter in the barn and are using it to type letters requesting things from Farmer Brown, such as electric blankets to keep them warm at night. Farmer Brown refuses, and the cows withhold their milk until they get what they ask for. Soon, the cows type a similar letter on behalf of the hens also asking for blankets, which Farmer Brown refuses to provide. The hens join the cows and refuse to lay eggs. Farmer Brown realizes this makes it impossible to run a farm. In an attempt to re-establish order, he sends a letter back to the cows and hens on his own typewriter and tells them they do not need the blankets and that their job is to produce milk and eggs. The cows hold an emergency meeting in which they come to a resolution. They promise the farmer that if he gives them the blankets, they will give him their typewriter. A neutral

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

agrees to deliver the typewriter once the cows and hens have the blankets. Farmer Brown decides the deal is fair, so he leaves the electric blankets for the cows and waits for the duck to deliver the typewriter. Instead of delivering the typewriter, the ducks send him a letter which states that their pond is boring, and they would like a diving board, which they get.

Reception

''Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type'' is a 2001

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

book. Based on a 2007 online poll, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

included it on a list of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children", and it was listed as one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

''.

Adaptations

In 2001,

Weston Woods Studios Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is an American production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded ...

adapted the book to an

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

movie narrated by

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...

and animation by MaGik Studios. There have been two animated Christmas specials based on the book series, namely ''Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho!'' (November 2016) and ''Click, Clack, Moo: Christmas at the Farm'' (November 28, 2017). Click Clack Moosic, a series of musical story time events with music by Phil Popham, was commissioned by the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra in 2014. A ''Click, Clack, Moo'' musical was created by Billy Aronson, Kevin Del Aguila, and Brad Alexander for

TheatreWorksUSA TheatreWorksUSA is a professional, not-for-profit theatre for young and family audiences founded in 1961. The company is based out of New York City, but has touring productions that run through forty-nine states as well as parts of Canada. P ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=1727780, title=Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type American picture books 2000 children's books Children's fiction books Caldecott Honor–winning works Children's books about cattle Children's books about ducks Fictional cattle Anthropomorphic cattle Short stories about talking animals Children's books about chickens

Plot

Reception

Adaptations

See also

References

External links