THE COW WHO CLIMBED A TREE by Gemma Merino.  New York: Albert Whitman & Company, 2016. 32p.  ISBN 9780807512982 hc.$16.99      Gr. K-3      E PIC

Tina was a curious cow who didn't like to do the normal things her sisters did.  She had big ideas which were declared (by the sisters) to be "IMPOSSIBLE! RIDICULOUS! NONSENSE!"  Of course, her sisters didn't believe her stories of climbing trees in the woods or meeting a dragon who lived there. One morning, when Tina was missing from breakfast, her sisters went to the woods to search for her. Imagine their surprise to find Tina and many other friends climbing the trees and parachuting back to the ground.  Readers will be encouraged to step outside the realm of "normal" activities when they see how much fun the cows have.  Besides the message to try new things, readers will be treated to imaginative watercolor art that features dabs of color, making colorful clumps of leaves for each tree.  Artistic readers may want to try this technique themselves.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI