Dadblamed Union Army Cow

Inspired by the true story of a celebrated cow that traveled with the Fifty-Ninth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War (a sprightly endnote supplies the details), Fletcher ("Shadow Spinner") and Root ("Dont Forget Winona") weave first-class fiction. In their version, the cow belongs to a rank-and-file soldier who thinks hes left the farm behind. But that dadblamed cow just cant say goodbye. She follows him right onto the train and charms his captain (those big, sad cow eyes are mighty irresistible). And When the bullets went whistlin past our ears, she got spooked and boltedaround a clump of cannon, through a bramble patch, over a hill, and right smack-dab into a pack of horse dragoons, says the narrator. 'Youre a dadblamed "dangerous" cow, I said. But if the soldier never stops calling her dadblamed he soon values her company: she offers warmth, milk and a reminder of home when the going gets rough. Roots pencil and watercolor drawings vividly render the Civil War landscape, from the bedraggled encampments to the pitch of a battle. She doesnt anthropomorphize her bovine heroine, and yet theres something special about the unnamed cowshe seems as much called to help the soldiers as Clara Barton herself. A terrific read-aloud, and a marvelous approach to history. Ages 5-7. "(July)" Copyright 2007 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Gr 25In a spirited, folksy narration that reads like free verse, an unnamed Union soldier relates the story of a "dadblamed cow" that accompanies him and other Indiana Volunteers during many battles and skirmishes of the Civil War. At the recruiting station, on the train, at campsites and in the midst of battle, she marches "step by step/all the way South./"Clop" two three four, /"Clop" two three four./Dadblamed, footsore cow!" An author's note provides documentation that such a cow existed, although Fletcher admits to taking "liberties with history." The pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are slightly naive and provide an appropriate and appealing visual interpretation of this comic story. Throughout, the author uses clever verbal twists to describe the animal, from "dadblamed "persnickety" cow" (she'll only eat "unstomped grass"), to "dadblamed "heavy" cow" (she has to be pulled out of the mud), and "dadblamed "dangerous" cow" (she runs into a pack of "horse dragoons"), and, finally, to a "dadblamed hero" (she receives a medal). A delightful read."Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI" Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

It's the telling in the soldier's voice that engages the reader and captures just the right tone without caricaturizing or sensationalizing.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)