COWS CAN'T FLY

The title’s assertion is a perfect set-up for a small boy to prove otherwise, in this merry tale of self-fulfilling prophecy from Milgrim (Dog Brain, 1996). The nameless protagonist narrates: “Cows can’t fly,/but I don’t care./One day I drew/some in the air!” The round-headed boy creates a crayon picture of rapturous cows soaring through the sky. His bespectacled, suspenders-wearing father is appropriately nay-saying, but a breeze takes the picture into the air; it lands among real cows, who study the drawing and take flight. With unusual perspectives and stylized rounded forms, the scenes are highly entertaining; no adults will look into the air, a fact that draws readers into a gleeful conspiracy with the boy, who takes the experiment further. He’s seen in the last spread staring at an array of zoo animals, a drawing pad under his arm. (Picture book. 3-8)