Only a Cow

Chocolate Lily nominee 2007-2008

Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice, 2009

A horse is a horse, of course, of course.

(Except maybe when it’s a cow!)

Lucille isn’t like the other cows on Charlie’s farm. Not for her, standing around chewing her cud all day. She yearns to run in a real race, just like Thunder, Farmer Charlie’s prize racehorse. Lucille’s dissatisfaction with her lot in life - and her strange ambition - confuses the other cows. Even Thunder can hardly disguise his contempt when he reminds Lucille that she is only a cow . She won’t be swayed, and one day when Farmer Charlie takes them all to the fair, Lucille stumbles onto a racetrack, and lines up in the starting gate. Only a cow - we’ll see about that!

But Lucille soon learns that cows are not like horses at all. The racetrack is much longer than she had imagined, and soon she is exhausted as the horses leave her behind in a cloud of dust. How will she find the strength to finish the race?

A galloping text by Arlene Hamilton runs neck and neck with artist Dean Griffith’s delightful paintings of farmers, horses, and mostly placid cows.