Gassy the Cow

Gassy the Cow by Garth Dahl is a children's book that has great potential to be really funny. The premise is a cow that has lactose intolerance. However, I failed to see how the story had anything to do with lactose intolerance, other than flatulence becomes a serious issue for the cow whenever he eats certain herbs. If the food he eats causes him problems whenever it helps him develop milk, then to me it logically follows that all such foods would bother him.

The educator in me is slightly bothered that the lead character, a cow, is a male, simply because cows by definition are female. But more bothersome to me, from an educator's point-of-view, is the crude humor. Children are infinitely tickled by potty humor and fart jokes. But, they just are not appropriate in the classroom. Even if read outside of school, potty-talk is quickly encouraged by phrases such as "his butt perfume was too strong".

That being said, from a regular adult point-of-view, the book is pretty comical. I shared it with adults, including my parents, and we all had a great chuckle over the story. Gassy is in love with Mona, but isn't as cool as the Elvis wannabe, Bruno. He also has a tendency to "blow it" in front of her, naturally causing tremendous embarrassment. When he finally realizes what is causing his gastrointestinal distress, he introduces Bruno to the special patch of herbs, so that Bruno can now make a fool of himself.

The book claims to be for ages 2 to 12. It is definitely not appropriate for the younger end of the spectrum. It's also too long for a 2 year-old to sit through, in my opinion. But older children, and those adults who are young at heart, are going to get a kick out of it.

Purchase Gassy the Cow

I received a copy of this book through my association with BookPleasures.com.