Mamma Moo reads
Text: Jujja Wieslander
Illustrations: Sven Nordqvist
Rabén & Sjögren 2011
Crow pointed at Mamma Moo.
“Humm… what did YOU do last night, if I may ask??? You know I saw that you came home in the CAR!!!” Mamma Moo grabbed hold of her book and closed her eyes.
“I was at the library. I was reading,” she said with longing.
“Cows can’t read books! Cows SHOULDN’T read books. Cows should be home. Caw!” Crow sank down on the ground.
“Why can’t you do things that are a little more normal, bicycling and climbing trees and the like?” he asked morosely.
“Books are so enlightening, Crow. If you can read, you can find out about almost everything.”
Jujja’s comments about the book
Children in our world are surrounded by the written word. They understand early on that there’s something magical between the covers of a book. One of our radio programs about Mamma Moo and Crow was meant to be broadcast on the day of the Nobel Prize award ceremony. We wrote a manuscript about the time Crow was awarded a Nobel Prize. This book grew out of that manuscript. Crow gets so worried when Mamma Moo leaves the farm and goes to the library. What would it lead to?! And he can’t even read! Even though he pretends, of course. When she says that M and OO make MOO, he counters with CR and OW make CROW. This book is a tribute to books, reading and to libraries. And to women who – despite resistance – read, get an education and allow themselves to grow.