Clarabelle: Making Milk and So Much More
The creators of Fantastic Farm Machines (2006) offer another informative, eye-catching picture book about farm life. This time, the focus is a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin, introduced through the daily life of a single cow, Clarabelle. In describing the basics of cow physiology and care and the dairy's operations, Peterson illuminates facts with comparisons that will grab kids' attention: "All that chewing makes Clarabelle produce nearly 30 gallons of saliva a day. That's a lot of drool!" Children may need help understanding terms such as renewable energy, and they may have follow-up questions: "How is manure made into energy?" Lundquist's sharp, close-up photographs of Clarabelle, her newborn calves, and the family who owns the farm, including a few elementary-age workers, will easily draw curious kids back into the science. A good addition to classroom units about foods' origins, this handsome title makes a natural companion to Peterson's Extra Cheese, Please! Mozzarella's Journey from Cow to Pizza (1994). Engberg, Gillian