Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type
The cows in Farmer Brown’s barnyard are becoming a problem. So begins
Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type
, written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin, a story for children ages three to seven. Having found an old typewriter in the barn -- and being fairly literate bovines -- the cows have begun making demands by typing notes to the farmer. At first they request electric blankets for themselves since the barn is quite chilly at night. When the blankets don’t appear, they leave a note on the barn door the next morning: “Sorry. We’re closed. No milk today.” The cows also enlist the hens in their cause and write another note requesting more electric blankets for the hens as well. When their demands still are not met, the hens join the cows in their strike and the farmer is greeted with another note the next morning: “Closed. No milk. No eggs.”
Farmer Brown becomes very angry. He is tired of going to the barn each day expecting to milk the cows and collect eggs, but instead being met with demands and refusals. He’s tired of hearing the “click, clack, moo; click, clack, moo” of his cows typing. He decides to type his own note, flatly refusing to give the cows and hens the electric blankets and demanding that they do what cows and hens are supposed to do: “You are cows and hens. I demand milk and eggs.” Since the duck is a “neutral party,” he is chosen to bring the note to the barn.
The next morning, the duck brings the cows’ reply to Farmer Brown. The cows agree to exchange the typewriter for electric blankets. They ask the farmer to leave the blankets by the barn door and they will send the duck back with the typewriter. Farmer Brown accepts their offer thinking that finally, the cows and hens will be producing milk and eggs again and the “click, clack, moo” nonsense will be over. But, his hopes are all too soon cut short the following day when he hears “click, clack, quack; click, clack, quack” as the ducks start to type their demands for a diving board for their pond.
Reading & Discussion
Doreen Cronin’s story about typing cows will be used in the unit to talk about plot, personification, and plot twists (or peripetia). In the opening two sentences of the book -- “Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type.” -- we can surmise the who, what, when, where, and why of the story.
Who?/ Farmer Brown and his cows.
What?/A problem or conflict with typing cows.
When?/ Whenever manual typewriters were in use (hence the “click, clack” sound).
Where?/ On a farm.
Why?/ Cows that are typing probably aren’t giving milk.
From this beginning, we will continue to map the plot: exposition, complications, climax, peripeteia, and denouement. We will also discuss personification as a tool in story telling, especially with regard to children’s stories. Here the cows are personified by their ability to use language as is demonstrated by their typing.
Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type
ends with a twist (peripeteia). Everything seems to be sorted out when the cows agree to hand over the typewriter in exchange for the electric blankets. This could have been an agreeable ending for the story, but the author did something else. She gave us a surprise when the ducks, once in possession of the typewriter, begin making their own demands. We will discuss how this kind of surprise affects the reader as well as what needed to happen in the story to create the surprise? Plot twists that appear out of the blue are disturbing and annoying to a reader. The twist has to be connected to the story. Here, the duck had to be introduced as a character and had to have some relationship to the cows and the farmer. But since he was described as a “neutral party,” his leadership qualities are unexpected.
We will also look at theme. In this case, technology as represented by the typewriter, is a Pandora’s box. Once it’s exposed to the world, it’s just about impossible to subdue it. Students will be asked to look at other technologies that have changed our world and will write about how they have enhanced or hindered our existence.
Journal Writing
Like the cows in
Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type
, pretend you are an animal that has discovered a technical instrument and learned how to use it. What effect does this have on the people around you?
Gary Larson’s Cows
On the cover of
The Far Side Gallery 3
, a cow appears as the “Mona Lisa.” Moo-na Lisa? On page 22, a bull wearing a baseball cap stands behind the register at Henry’s Hardware as Henry’s asks him: “Hey, Johnny! This lady wants to know the difference in all these fertilizers!” Then there’s a party scene. Beer-toting bulls are gathered in one corner and a few cows stand by the window with their brands in plain view. They are holding champagne glasses. It’s animal attraction all right as the bulls decide how to divvy up the bovine beauties: “Bob, you take the ‘Triple R,’ you take the ‘Circle L,’ and I’ll take the ‘Lazy Q,’” (page 48) “Where ‘minute’ steaks come from” is the caption for a group of plywood thin, flattened cows standing in a field. (page 52) Three carefree, whistling cows pile on top of a tractor. The caption reads “Cow joyrides.” (page 67) “Cattle humor” is depicted by two cowboys bringing in a herd of cattle. A sign that says, “Trample me” is pinned on the back of one of them. (page 82)
For the purpose of this curriculum unit, I’ve selected cartoons depicting cows and bulls, but there’s no limit to the zoological, entomological, psychological, or mythological range of Larson’s imagination. Gary Larson’s cartoons often depict animals taking on human characteristics, but maintaining their special sensibilities. A bovine clerk working in a hardware store would obviously know about fertilizer. Larson’s animal cartoons also speak to food chain issues where life other than human is concerned. Cattle being rounded up by cowboys who will eventually lead them to slaughter know that they could rebel and trample their enemies to death. “Where ‘minute’ steaks come from” is perhaps a reminder that fast-cooking meat doesn’t come from paper doll-looking cows, but from the sacrifice of living animals.
Reading & Discussion
Students will view a variety of cartoons from Gary Larson’s
Far Side
calendars and books and will be asked to select their favorite among cartoons featuring animals. By discussing their selections, we should be able to understand the ridiculous nature of humor; that often what we see as funny is really something that doesn’t jibe with our ideas about reality. We will look for irony (or the unexpected) in the cartoons as well as how the animals are personified.
LESSON ONE: Mona Lisa versus Moo-na Lisa
Students will be instructed to compare DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa” to Larson’s rendition and write a paragraph or two describing the significance of the cartoon, which will, of course, largely be the product of imagination.
In Daniel Brown’s book,
The Da Vinci Code
, he suggests some hidden messages in Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting, “The Mona Lisa.” The horizon line on the left side of the painting appears lower than the right, which makes the left side of the face appear larger than the right side. Brown states that this configuration aligns with historical concepts of male and female where left was considered feminine and right, masculine and that Da Vinci believed that the human soul had to have both male and female aspects in order to be enlightened. The book goes on to say that the painting has been thought to be a self portrait and that computer analysis has confirmed some points of congruency in both the face in the painting and the face of the artist. Lastly, the title “Mona Lisa” is described as an anagram for “Amon L’isa,” representing Amon, the Egyptian ram-headed god of masculinity and fertility and Isis, the Egyptian goddess of fertility whose ancient pictogram was once called L’isa. Therefore, Amon L’isa represented the divine union of male and female and this idea, as it is represented in da Vinci’s painting, accounts for the Mona Lisa’s knowing smile. (Brown 119)
As for Gary Larson’s Moo-na Lisa (my title for the cartoon, not his), what mystery of the cow world underscores this work of art is hard to say, but it might be fun for students to imagine some. Not totally dissimilar to Da Vinci, Larson’s understanding of science has influenced his work and has won him high praise. As Stephen Jay Gould of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University says in his foreward, which appears in
The Far Side Gallery 3
: “Something amazing has happened to the doors and bulletin boards of academic corridors in the natural sciences. These blank spaces are traditionally festooned with bits of humor [Larson’s] chosen to make statements about serious issues in science or laboratory life.”
Students will look at prints of Da Vinci’s
Mona Lisa
and Larson’s cow version of the painting. I will read the excerpt from
The da Vinci Code
(as described above) and will ask the class to imagine some mystical details about Larson’s cartoon. It might be interesting to note that if Amon L’isa is truly an anagram for Mona Lisa, that the goddess Isis was often depicted with a solar disc between cow horns on her head. This, of course, is not a serious exercise, but is intended to strengthen writing skills using personification, irony, and humor.
