Daisy by Brian Wildsmith

Tuesday Treasure

Begin on the title page. Daisy is peeking out above the barn door. She wants freedom!

"One day on his way home, Farmer Brown forgot to  close the gate to Daisy's field."

Off she goes on an adventure. The townspeople see her on top of a building. The television people arrive with the fire brigade. Sadly for Daisy at the end of this first adventure she is taken back to the farm BUT some one saw her on television. A film producer arrives at the farm and declares he will make Daisy into a movie star. Farmer Brown agrees Daisy can go but she must come back. Daisy is lifted onto a ship and taken to Hollywood.

"She acted in many films and soon became a big star ... She even appeared in a bubble bath advertisement."

The high life, though, is not quite perfect. Daisy is given rich foods like caviar and jelly when she really longs for fresh grass and water. She begins to grow thin so the producer makes one more film called "Daisy come home" and he flies her back to Farmer Brown.

Everything about this book is exquisite. The emotional trajectory of the story, the mixed media art work in the illustrations, the book design with half pages that lift to reveal a scene and of course the very satisfying happy ending. I do wonder why my former library decided to discard this beautiful book. If you have Daisy in your library please read it and keep it and share it with as many children as you can. If you are not familiar with the art of Brian Wildsmith take a look here.

Daisy was first published in 1984 (the year I became a teacher) and the great news is you can still buy this book in either hardcover or paperback.

Daisy is a 'grass is greener on the other side' story. Other books to compare with daisy are:

Once upon a small Rhinoceros by Meg McKinlay
Wendy by Gus Gordon
Louise the adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo

With a group of older students I would compare Daisy with Sammy Streetsinger by Charles Keeping.

Moo a novel by Sharon Creech

Newbery Medalist Creech touches on themes of loss, friendship, and belonging in this appealing tale of a young girl’s unlikely relationship with Zora, an enormous belted Galloway. Kirkus

Moo - why was I keen to read this book?

• It is by the wonderful Sharon Creech
• Sharon Creech once commented on this blog making me love her even more!
• I adore belted Galloway cows (even though I have never seen one)
• Moo is a partly written as a verse novel. I so admire writers who use this genre.
• Ever since I read The Homecoming and Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt I have sought out books set in Maine

Driving through city traffic Reena's mum says "let's get out of here".  She means let's leave this hectic city life.  But where will they go. Reena says Maine.

"My parents met in Maine many years ago and when they spoke of Maine their voices had the glint of sea and sky. In the car that day, Maine just popped out of my head. I hadn't expected they would take me seriously. I'm glad I didn't say Siberia."

Friends, family, neighbors, strangers all warn against the perils of Maine - especially the cold. But there are also good things - lobsters, blueberries, coastlines and mountains.  When the family arrive mum and dad send Reena and her brother Luke (a seven-year-old complexity) off for a ride around the town - this is unheard of freedom. 

In the city where we'd lived
there were few safe places
for us to ride - 
few places where we weren't competing
with cars and trucks and buses
and surprise clumps of kids
armed with sticks and stone
or wobbly bearded men spitting

but here in this little town by the sea
there were wide sidewalks
and quiet, curving lanes
spreading like tree limbs
from the trunk of the town centre
and you could ride and ride
the whole day long.

Their mother meets the eccentric Mrs Falala and volunteers Reena and Luke to help with a cow called Zora.  Reena and Luke know nothing about cows. Zora is ornery, moody and stubborn not to mention caked with mud and dust.  Somehow Reena and Luke need to make friends with the strangely abrasive Mrs Falala and with Zora, her cow, and then complete the seemingly impossible task of preparing Zora for the country show. But please don't go thinking this is just a book about kids and a cow - it is so much more. Read this book slowly, then read it again. This is story telling at its best.

Listen to an audio sample here from the first few pages of this book.  I would follow Moo with The girl who Bought Mischief and Fly Away.   Of course you should also pick up Love that Dog and Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech.


A heartfelt tale that will be embraced by Creech’s fans, work well as a classroom read-aloud, and find a spot in book groups. School Library Journal

Many children’s books depict a quest or journey, or a huge event in the main character’s life. With MOO, Creech acknowledges the fact that an unlikely friendship with an elderly woman --- and an ornery cow --- is all the drama a children’s book needs in order to shine. KidsReads