Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type

This book is about farm animals, cows in this case, who demand electric blankets from Farmer Brown because the barns are cold at night or else they won't produce any more milk. The chickens jump on the bandwagon with some demands of their own as they, too, leave their ultimatums as typed letters on Farmer Brown's barn door. This book was such a hit with me that I became a Cronin and Lewin fan instantly. Click Clack Moo is cleverly written, and the humor sprinkled throughout the story is timed just right. The illustrations add to the humor as the reader investigates the character's facial expressions on the pages as events take place. As a teacher, what I like about the book is that it is not just entertaining. It can be used with older students, too, as a way of incorporating letter writing into the language arts curriculum, to emphasize keyboarding skills in the technology curriculum, and used in a social studies/history lesson or unit as a catalyst to discuss labor unions and labor union agreements or as a way to apply to many real-life situations that deal with negotiating/arbitration in general. I think this one will become a classic or at least a "must read" on the list of every elementary schoolteacher.