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amityevans's review against another edition
4.0
Rereading this book was definitely a great idea. I took so much more out of it and I will definitely put some of the ideas into practice.
heidihaverkamp's review
2.0
It was fun for a while to read about the personalities of cows and sheep, but a bit too long for what it was, in the end.
jarcher's review
1.0
Picked up at Powell’s on our independent bookstore day crawl. Nature writing can run from overly data-driven to anecdotal and eccentric and this book was too far on the latter side of the scale for my taste. The stories were cute don’t get me wrong but if you already accept that animals have personalities there isn’t much else to glean. I also need to point out the line “It concerns us greatly that mass medication is so often used in the human and animal kingdoms; vaccines are widespread and no account seems to be taken of individual susceptibilities or the state of the immune systems or natural defense mechanisms” (118-119) because what a wildly misguided and inaccurate statement and why on earth was it in this book about cow behavior…? That was the moment I finally accepted that this was not thoughtful scientific nature writing but rather the ramblings of a woman who really likes cows.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
3.0
Rosamund’s family gave up commercial farming so I was a bit confused as to how they actually run the farm now and this wasn’t really explained. It doesn’t really go into the detail of running a farm but is more a collection of anecdotes about the cows and their little foibles. All the cows are named but there are so many named it’s hard to keep track.
There were some interesting facts, like how cows in pain will chew on willow (willow bark being an early form of aspirin) and how their family units work. It felt a little bit whimsical in places, especially when she kept saying the cows were talking to each other (or not talking as the case may be). I would say it’s more of a book to dip in and out of rather than read in one go.
There were some interesting facts, like how cows in pain will chew on willow (willow bark being an early form of aspirin) and how their family units work. It felt a little bit whimsical in places, especially when she kept saying the cows were talking to each other (or not talking as the case may be). I would say it’s more of a book to dip in and out of rather than read in one go.
kerry2046's review against another edition
5.0
As a great cow-lover, this book was both perfectly adorable and intriguingly informative.
Loved it. They so cute!
Loved it. They so cute!
loosegeese's review against another edition
2.0
Young has put together a very loosely structured series of musings about animals at Kite's Nest. It's prettily-written, if meandering, and really does make a case for the intelligence, personality, and individuality of each and every animal she has met. Young's farm feels idyllic, with freedom of movement and choice of food being valued above all else to provide every animal a high quality of life. If you had to be a farmed cow, you would want to be a farmed cow here.
Young justifies the use of land for animal grazing (it protects hedgerows, maintains carbon-absorbing grasslands, and give purpose to soil that can't support crops), but fails to provide any convincing reasons why we should eat the animals that she has made such effort to prove to us as unique. While slaughter is never discussed, the true purpose of these clever, emotive animals lingers at the edge of the page.
Young justifies the use of land for animal grazing (it protects hedgerows, maintains carbon-absorbing grasslands, and give purpose to soil that can't support crops), but fails to provide any convincing reasons why we should eat the animals that she has made such effort to prove to us as unique. While slaughter is never discussed, the true purpose of these clever, emotive animals lingers at the edge of the page.
bookshop_b's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my word this book was ADORABLE! Rosamund LOVES her cows and you can feel that love through the pages of this heart-warming book. I thought I loved cows before but my love for them has doubled if not tripled after reading this book. Totally starting my own ethical dairy farm one day.