MINNIE AND MOO: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE; Denys Cazet; Easy Reader; HarperCollins; 2006, 48pp. Our favorite cows, Minnie and Moo, overhear the farmer say he doesn't have money to pay his bills, and immediately visualize his becoming depressed, holing up indoors, and neglecting the farm, until all is lost. Moo decides the bank has lots of extra money--all they need to do is ask for some to save the farm, but the bank probably won't give money to cows so they dress up in some trench coats they find in the barn, and ride into town on the tractor, carrying an old violin case to put the money in. Thus attired, Minnie and Moo bear an unfortunate resemblance to the dreaded Bazooka Sisters, wanted dead or alive. "'The bank just wants people to feel good about themselves. Even if you're dead,' said Moo, 'it's nice to know you're still wanted.'" Minnie and Moo's adventures after they accidentally rob the bank are the stuff of legend and best left for readers to discover for themselves. As is usual with Denys Cazet's unfailingly charming books, big laughs are to be had for children and adults
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out Written by Nicholas Day Illustrated by Yas Imamura New York: Random House Studio, 2025. Informational. 294 pages. In 1815 on a small island in Indonesia, Mount Tambora erupted. The blast was the largest in human history, and one of the deadliest. Though it couldn't be understood at the time, the deadly blast half a world away would lead to catastrophic famine in Europe, prompt westward expansion in America, and inspire the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The global climate disaster following the explosion also led to inventions like modern meteorology and the early invention of the bicycle. The people living at the time couldn't have seen how everything was connected, but this fast paced narrative assures that readers will. As he did in 2024's Sibert winner The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Nicholas Day does an impressive job of weaving together different historical events into one single, compell...
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